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Recently: One meal at a time over 29 years

Posted on December 27, 2007 by Staff

Jeanie Arnel looks out the door of the Meals on Wheels office at Binkley Baptist Church.

By Valarie Schwartz

The Meals on Wheels office at Binkley Baptist Church will seem a little less bright next year. Jeanie Arnel, who for the last 29 years has been director of the locally supported nonprofit, serves in that position for the last time on Dec. 31.
It only took a spark for Arnel to decide when to step aside from the job she had thought she’d stay with for maybe a year.

“I decided on the spur,” Arnel said last week. “I commented to a cousin that I was thinking about it and she said, ‘Do it by the end of the year.’”

During the first week of December, Arnel told Mary Alice Eckman, her close friend and chairman of the Meals on Wheels board, that the last day of 2007 would be her final day as director.

“After 29 years of her being there and my being board chair for 10 years, we’ve formed a tremendous relationship,” Eckman said. The two devout women embrace different faith and political followings but prove that loving bonds can be built despite diversity.

“She has a great relationship with all of the volunteers and the clients,” Eckman said. “She’s really dedicated; her work ethic is unbelievable.”

“It has been a blessing,” Arnel said. “It’s not just a job, it’s a part of my life.”

Arnel started in 1978, when the local program was but two years old. The program, which delivers meals to the homebound, had started with four clients through the efforts of the late Sophie Martin, a member of Chapel of the Cross. Florence Soltys (who died in September) served for a year as the first director at a time when nutrition was her field, before she went into social work and the needs of the elderly, perhaps providing her with the impetus for the future endeavors with which she made such a strong impact.

Arnel delivered meals, and after the second director left, decided to take on that part-time position.

“I didn’t think I’d last more than a year or so,” Arnel said.

Instead, she has outlasted hundreds of volunteers and clients. The program now serves Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Southern Orange County with eight routes delivered five days a week by a hundred or so volunteers — some delivering weekly, some monthly, some as needed. For many of the shut-ins, those delivering meals are the only people they see for days at a time. And when a delivery volunteer has concerns about a client, they know that a heads-up to Arnel will get her attention to them.

“She’s been so reliable, so pleasant and so helpful to so many of the clients,” said volunteer Irma Stein. “She goes out of her way.”

Each potential client has received a visit from Arnel, who determines qualifications for delivery.

“We have all ages and incomes,” Arnel said of the 72 clients on the current delivery list. Some people get better and leave the program, and some die, she said.

What will Arnel do with the extra 20 hours a week?

“I’m going to clean the house!” she said laughing, but added that she’d like to volunteer with an English as a Second Language program, take a computer course, become more involved with her French group (she was born in Paris) and rock garden group and continue a strong involvement with her church. And she’ll continue to serve as day chairman on Tuesdays, scheduling volunteers until a replacement is found.

“She’s a loving, caring presence and always has been,” said Pam Drake, who has been delivering since 1980. “She’s just a delight. We’ll really miss her.”

Contact Valarie Schwartz at valariekays@mac.com or 923-3746.

1 thought on “Recently: One meal at a time over 29 years”

  1. kaye stoffel says:
    January 12, 2008 at 10:57 am

    What an interesting, well written article. It is so apparent that the dedication and dommittment of Ms Arnel to this worthwhile activity, springs not just from do-goodnes but from her innate goodness. Congratulations to her and to Ms Schwartz for giving us something positive to think about!!!

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