Zelienople Meals on Wheels deserves praise and congratulations — not only for celebrating its 50th year in operation, but also for continuing its vital community service during the coronavirus pandemic.

The program serves meals to residents of Zelienople, Harmony, Evans City, Callery and Beaver County’s Fombell.

Despite a majority of its volunteers being older — and, therefore, more at risk from COVID-19 — the group’s deliveries didn’t stop even once during the pandemic. That’s a great way to celebrate a half-century — and something about which Zelienople’s Meals on Wheels program’s volunteers should be proud.

Obviously, providing a hot, healthy meal is the mission of Meals on Wheels, but the program does more than just provide food. A visit from Meals on Wheels can often be the only time some of its recipients — who are primarily seniors — might have human contact during their day.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, loneliness can lead to numerous health risks. Social isolation can increase a person’s risk of premature death, and is associated with increased risks in dementia, heart disease, stroke, depression, anxiety and suicide.

A 2010 Brigham Young University study noted that social isolation is as much a health risk for seniors as smoking three-quarters of a pack of cigarettes per day.

Meals on Wheels has also long been credited with enabling seniors to remain in their homes longer. By receiving deliveries, they can partake in services that would be provided if they were forced to move into an assisted living complex.

Zelienople Meals on Wheels delivered meals to five clients on its first day in June 1970. On a recent day during the COVID-19 pandemic, it delivered to 50 people along four routes.

Although the pandemic has required volunteers to not be as up close and personal as they might in normal times, the group is still looking out for those it serves. The program’s director said volunteers have discovered seniors who have fallen in recent months and called 911 for help.

The group gets its operating budget from donations — so anyone with the means to help this organization should know the money they give is being put to great use to help those in need in the community.

So, congratulations to Zelienople Meals on Wheels for 50 years of community service — and especially for not missing a beat during this particularly trying moment in our nation’s history.