On a typical weekday morning, Lois Weaver is busy overseeing a group of volunteers preparing meals in assembly-line fashion to be delivered to about 150 senior citizens and others in need in central Westmoreland County.

“I like my senior citizens here, and I like my clients that I feed,” said Weaver, a Greensburg resident who for 17 years has been the coordinator of the Tri-City Meals on Wheels program in Southwest Greensburg. “I'm a people person.”

Prior to working for Tri-City, the Slickville native and mother of two adult daughters worked in the campus dining hall of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. She became a dietetic technician after earning an associate degree from Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

“I thought it would be a good fit,” said Weaver, the nonprofit's only paid employee.

It has been a good fit for Tri-City as well.

“We're really pleased with her. She's very competent and very dedicated,” said Robert B. Davis, chairman of Tri-City's 12-member board of directors.

Working out of a block building at Red Devil Park, Weaver coordinates a program that prepares and delivers meals on weekdays to those unable to get to a grocery store or prepare their own food. The service area covers Greensburg, Jeannette, Southwest Greensburg, South Greensburg, the Fort Allen and West Point neighborhoods in Hempfield and in Harrison City, Penn Township.

Tri-City has provided meals for seniors and shut-ins since 1970. For $3.50 a day or $17.50 a week, people receive a hot meal delivered Monday through Friday.

Many of clients live on fixed incomes.

“We try to keep (costs) in their budget range,” Weaver said.

She orders from a food service in Hempfield and develops menus that vary daily. Putting together a nutritious meal that seniors will want to eat and making sure it tastes good and is healthy — low in sodium, fat and cholesterol — is another challenge, Weaver said.

Area churches provide treats, such as cookies and angel food cake.

A special holiday meal is planned the day before Thanksgiving. It will include turkey, stuffing and traditional side dishes.

Weaver also oversees about 150 Meals on Wheels volunteers, who are critical to the program's operation.

“If it weren't for the volunteers, we could not do it,” said Davis of Greensburg.

Substitute volunteer Wash Gjebre of Greensburg said he enjoys helping others.

As for Weaver's work, Gjebre said “she's very dedicated.”

Five volunteers work in the kitchen each weekday. Another 120 deliver meals, with about 24 volunteering each day in driver-deliverer pairs.

Volunteers typically are senior citizens themselves, Weaver said. They have retired from work, but not from helping out others. Some volunteer into their 90s.

“They are very dedicated. Most of the people like knocking on the other side of the door, rather than being on the inside of the door,” and receiving the meals, Weaver said.

Because of turnover, “getting and keeping the volunteers is the big challenge,” she said. “We are constantly looking for more people willing to help.”

For some senior citizens, a Meals on Wheels volunteer is the only person they see that day, Weaver said.

The group's volunteer corps has been bolstered for the past 15 years by about 170 Pitt-Greensburg students. They assist Meals on Wheels through the university's “Into the Streets” program, which is designed to get the students to volunteer locally and back in their hometown, Weaver said.

In addition to volunteers, the organization counts on donations and contributions from businesses, area religious organizations and residents, Davis said. Tri-City spends about $84,000 a year on food, far exceeding revenue received from meal payments, he said.

“We rely heavily on contributions. Every little bit helps,” Davis said.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.

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