Serving Our Seniors Magazine: October - December 2026

76-year-old Tom Runner has been volunteering to deliver rural home delivered meals for 12 years. After Tom retired from Ford, he told his wife, Janet, “We have to do something. We can’t just sit around the house all day.”  Tom explained, “I thoroughly enjoy being outside, and I saw a commercial on television about the Meals on Wheels program and decided that’s what I wanted to do. I made the right decision”. When he started, Tom delivered to 75 people every Monday and Wednesday. His route stretched from Birmingham, Ohio, to a church in Huron, Ohio. Nowadays, Tom volunteers on Mondays and delivers to 25 people. He has delivered more than an estimated 13,000 meals in the last 12 years.   Tom loves volunteering. “I realized I wasn’t just delivering meals to people. I was forming relationships with them. Sometimes you’re the only person they see all day, and they want to talk to you”. Although the work is rewarding, it comes with challenges. Tom can recall four times that he found his clients collapsed on the floor. The hardest part is when the clients pass away. “It’s almost like losing a member of your family,” Delivering meals to older adults has become a family affair for Tom. He typically volunteers with his wife Janet. His son, grandson, and granddaughter join when their schedules allow. Tom says, “We’re all kind of like a team that does this route. The clients have come to know my family.” Tom finished by saying, “I don’t see myself stopping in the foreseeable future.”  To keep this program thriving — for the day when YOU or someone close to you needs it — more caring individuals are needed. It is more than delivering meals, it is giving a caring connection. To volunteer call 419-626-2560 and ask for Carolyn Springer. “We Had to Do Something”: How One Couple Turned Retirement into Service By India Gray L-R Oliva Hartz, Janet Runner, Brock Runner, Tom Runner, Ken Runner. CORRECTION Rural Home Delivered Meal Volunteers: They Are a Lifesaver Serving Our Seniors would like to apologize for the misspelling of Tim & Chris Niemeyer’s last name, in the July-September 2026 issue of Serving Our Seniors Magazine (pg 11). The correct spelling is Niemeyer. The article described an incident in which the couple found an older gentleman who had fallen. In the article, it stated the incident took place on a cold, winter night. We’ve been informed that although it was a cold night, it was not winter. Serving Our Seniors regrets these errors and wishes to extend its sincere appreciation to all that Tim and Chris Niemeyer do to help make our community be a caring place to live while growing older. 17