Staff writer
Cinnamon rolls and chili were in store for 11 Marion residents when Jill Tichenor knocked on their doors Friday to deliver their lunch.
Tichenor is a volunteer driver for Marion Senior Center. She takes meals to homebound seniors twice a week.
Her route isn’t stagnant. Sometimes she takes fewer lunches on her delivery route and other times deliver more. The meals go out to seniors who are homebound, sick, or awaiting a move to a care facility.
When she knocked on the door of a Maple St. home, she handed two meals to the resident.
When seniors want her to, Tichenor sets the meal out on the table for them.
The senior center has two delivery routes, one on the north half of town and one on the south half of town.
Besides taking meals to seniors, she also keeps an eye on whether anything seems to be amiss. If someone doesn’t respond to her knock on the door, Tichenor tries the doorknob to see if the door is unlocked, and opens it to step inside and check on them.
She said she hasn’t found anyone needing immediate help so far, but if someone had fallen or was too weak to get out of bed, help would be summoned.
If the door is locked, Tichenor calls Marion Senior Center, and if they have a number, they can call and check.
When Tichenor made her last meal stop at Homestead Senior Residences, she was greeted warmly by recipients, who gave her little updates on their lives in the days since she last came.