Special deliveries
Kalispell Montessori Elementary School students Kelly Hendrix, right, Justin Gardner, and Ben Wright deliver a Meals On Wheels hot lunch in Kalispell recently. “It’s a lot of fun to take food to people who need us,” Hendrix said. “It makes their day and it makes mine, too. But what I’ve learned through all of this is to always be happy. I mean even if you’re feeling bad you need to look on the bright side of things. The people we deliver food to can’t go out and get it themselves but they seem to always be happy.” Garrett Cheen photos/Daily Inte Lake
Students learn some life lessons delivering Meals on Wheels
Every Wednesday, three smiling young faces pop up at doors around west Kalispell delivering hot meals to the "olderly," as Ben Wright dubbed them.
Wright, 9, his best pal Justin Gardner, 10, and Kelly Hendrix, 12, serve as just one of the teams of Kalispell Montessori Elementary School volunteers working for Meals On Wheels.
Montessori co-administrator Michelle Talus, the wheels for the team, selects the lucky students for each week's meal delivery team.
"They fight to get to go," she said with a laugh. "The seniors love it too. They've been great to us."
Talus started the program in September of 2006 based on a successful experience in Portland where she had worked before coming to the Flathead.
"It's part of the Montessori philosophy to get the kids out into the community," she said.
She contacted Carol Collins, site manager for the meals program at the Agency on Aging, to ask if the students could deliver once a week. Collins said she thought it was a great idea.
"Michelle came down and went with a driver a couple of times," Collins said. "Then she brought the kids and off they went."
According to Talus, more than 100 students signed up to participate. They range from first- through sixth-graders.
In line with the Montessori approach, students learn from each other by working together. Talus initially trained the fifth- and sixth-graders. Then the older students showed the younger ones while delivering meals in the community.
"Every Wednesday they trained a new child," she said. "I just drive."
Talus said she worried at first about how well the children would relate to the seniors. But she found the occasional shy first-grader soon overcomes fear by following the other youngsters up to the door and watching them interact.
Kelly, Ben and Justin show themselves as seasoned veterans after five or six Meals On Wheels outings. They bounced into the dining room of the Agency on Aging building on a recent Wednesday to wait for the staff to pack their hot meals.
Munching on cookies, the three exuded enthusiasm about their impending senior circuit.
"I really enjoy going around and seeing the elderly," Kelly said.
Justin concurred, describing it as even better than recess. He added that he liked meeting a population group that he might never come across without this experience.
"The 'olderly' are really polite to you," Ben said with a smile. "They're not mean."
He added that he likes to go with Justin, his best friend "since forever." All three confirmed that Montessori students compete for the weekly privilege of piling into Talus' Land Rover.
Kelly, as the oldest, retrieved the clipboard with a slip listing the names and nutritional needs of their senior meal recipients. She explained that the meals were color coded to those nutritional needs.
A blue dot signifies a diabetic-safe meal, red means low sodium and green denotes both diabetic-safe and low sodium. Their paperwork also instructs them whether to deliver 2 percent milk, lowfat milk or no milk with a meal.
Ben pointed to the insulated bag marked "D," explaining the staff would pack the hot meals for their route in that bag. Justin said they would get a tub to carry the cold drinks.
As the "D" bag got zipped, the team jumped up to load the Land Rover. Talus drove through the snow-packed streets to their first senior who lived in a small house on Tenth Avenue West.
From downtown Kalispell, the team moved across town to an apartment complex on Liberty Street where Talus accompanied them through a maze of hallways to the right door.
Five more deliveries brought the team back to the Agency on Aging on Kelly Road where the youngsters have a hot lunch with the people who come for the congregate meal in the dining room.
Kelly said the meals were also really good. Justin added his personal endorsement to the cookies.
Ben, performing his best-friend duties, backed him up.
"The treats are the best," he said.
Collins wisely had ordered them a chicken lunch as a replacement for the liver and onions special of the day.
"We always have substitutes for those who don't like it," she said.
Collins said the weekly visit from the Montessori students brightens everyone's day. She said that the home-bound elderly really appreciate a visit from anyone but especially enjoy seeing youngsters.
She added that she was impressed by how easily the Montessori students converse with adults.
"Most of them are real comfortable and sure of themselves," she said. "Everyone here enjoys seeing them."
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.