Butler resident Peggy Loomis, left, and Evelyn Kennedy, who has volunteered for 15 years with Butler Meals on Wheels, prepare their meals for delivery last week. Loomis has volunteered with Meals on Wheels for 49 years.

Peggy Loomis has hauled hot meals along the same route every Tuesday for 49 years.

“They say 'You make my day,'” Loomis said of her clients. “Well, you make mine.”

Butler Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit organization that delivers meals to the homebound, celebrates 50 years of serving this year.

The kitchen inside St. Peter's Anglican Church, 218 E. Jefferson St., buzzed last week as volunteers gathered and chatted before it was time to make their scheduled deliveries.

In 2018, the organization served 22,755 hot meals and 10,525 sandwich meals, said Mary Pataky, Meals on Wheels executive director. A celebration is being planned to commemorate the milestone later in the year.

Five days a week, 30 volunteers help cook and deliver meals along a variety of routes to service the City of Butler and surrounding areas. The organization has 257 volunteers, said Sandi Sandrick, assistant director and volunteer coordinator.

On Nov. 17, 1969, the organization was established when Lutheran churches and volunteers saw a need for the meals. Housed in the Luther Hall at First English Lutheran Church, the organization started serving 13 clients, said Pataky.

The program served 150 clients about 25 years ago before other services opened in the Butler County area, she said. For the past 10 years, between 100 to 125 clients have been served each year.

Each delivery also comes with reassurance for the clients' family because the volunteers check on their clients, she said.

If no one answers the door, Loomis said she checks on the resident.

Loomis recalled the time when a client's wife went to the hospital. When Loomis arrived at the house, she went in through a window to check on the resident. However, it turned out the client went with his wife to the hospital.

Over the course of her volunteering, Loomis has served on the board, worked in the kitchen and delivered meals, she said.

Another volunteer who has dedicated years of service to the organization is Mary Inida Gamberoni of Butler, who has been a volunteer since the organization opened its doors 50 years ago.

“It's been Wednesday morning all these years,” Gamberoni said. “It's very rewarding. Because all of the volunteers are so upbeat and into the program, we've got a lot of people that have a lot of years down there also.”

She joined the program after her pastor at St. Mark Lutheran's Church founded the program, she said.

For years, Gamberoni has delivered meals on her route. She recalled drives when her youngest daughter, who was 2 at the time, would accompany her before she started kindergarten.

Residents are able to stay in their homes longer because of the meal service, she said.

Loomis said volunteering comes from the heart.

“Love and show them compassion,” she said. “Let them be part of your family and life.”

<br />

Loomis looks over her delivery schedule for Butler Meals on Wheels last week.