Wanting to recognize the people and businesses that have helped contributed to the Odessa Meals on Wheels, the organization has recently launched a tile mural project to help raise funding.
The project, which started back in June, features the names of people and businesses lining the wall just inside the entrance of the organization’s building on 1314 E. Fifth St.
For a fee, any individual or business can be recognized with their name on the tiles. The prices range, depending on the size of the tile from $100-$500.
“This is a way to honor or to recognize a person that will be on our wall forever,” Odessa Meals on Wheels Executive Director Margaret Burton said. “We’re hoping that the funds from this will go to provide more meals for the seniors of Odessa. We have a lot of blank wall space in this building so we’re hoping to eventually cover each wall in the building.”
The idea behind the project goes back to before the building’s construction in 2011.
“Years and years ago, when we were looking at building this building, we went to Lubbock, Abilene and San Angelo to get ideas of how their buildings were laid out,” Burton said. “Down in San Angelo, they had been doing their tiles on the walls for years. You had these beautiful tiles on the walls because there was a place in San Angelo that makes these tiles for the different people. We decided that this would be a good way to recognize some of the businesses and people in Odessa.”
Burton said the tiles are available in different sizes.
“There’s the $100, $250 and $500,” Burton said. “The 500 is the big one where they can put the logo or whatever on it.”
A number of organizations have already helped out and purchased a tile.
“The Pilot Club and Lions Club have stepped up so much so God bless them because they have really stepped up and have taken a huge block of tile,” Burton said.
With the pandemic still going on and people still trying to recover from the economic impacts that have occurred with unemployment and other items, it can be harder to raise funds and get more volunteers. Burton hopes this project can help out Meals on Wheels while giving a shout out to those who have helped.
“It’s awfully hard to raise funds because everyone is needing money and volunteers so we figured that this would be a different way of doing it and trying to honor our people,” Burton said. “We have so many outstanding citizens who have helped build Odessa. So it’s time for us to honor those people. Maybe their children or grand children would like to honor their older parents or so.”
Burton says that they have already raised over $10,000 since the project got started.
“We just want to cover our walls,” Burton said. “We want people to be honored. You send flowers or a birthday gift but what does it mean? It doesn’t mean too much. This is going to be on the wall forever. … This will be permanent and a lifetime honor for whoever’s on that tile.”
One issue that Odessa’s Meals on Wheels has had to deal with is the lack of volunteers.
With about 30 routes and close to 570 people being served a day, the need for more volunteers to help deliver food seniors is crucial.
“It takes volunteers to deliver those meals,” Burton said. “Without caring for people in this community, we would not be able to do what we do. I only have a staff of nine, including myself. So, we do cover two routes out west past loop 338 and we do have staff that covers that area but otherwise, the 2800 route has to be covered by volunteers. Of course, if we don’t have them covered, the staff has to do it. So that leaves us shorthanded in the office or from doing what we should be doing.
Burton says she currently has about 400 volunteers who help out on different days, according to their schedules and that they are always looking for more people to volunteer.
“We have volunteers that have been with us for many years and we’re having new people and we want new people because we love to see the kids come from UTPB, OC, for their scholar hours because it teaches them maybe a section of the town that they don’t know about,” Burton said. “Maybe it makes them realize that there are a lot of old people in this town because how many young people don’t get around older citizens? Unless you have grandparents that live here, you’re not around them and especially the circumstances that some of my people have to live in. that meal is so important to them so we try to make sure that they get their meal by 12 p.m. because they’re calling by 11 a.m. saying their meal hasn’t come in and it may be the only hot meal they get a day. It’s so important that we have the people to deliver the meals.”
The pandemic didn’t make things any easier.
“It’s been hard with the pandemic because business have shut back,” Burton said. “We’ve lost some of our business that drove for us so it is things like that which have hurt us so bad. And people get old. Maybe they become clients. I have one that’s going to start Monday that used to drive for us but now she’s in ill-health and needs a little bit of help. It’s things like that. We lose some people but we gain some people.”
Among the people who volunteer regularly at Meals on Wheels in Odessa is Virginia Mercer and her husband David.
“We like volunteering,” Virginia said. “It’s something we enjoy.”
Virginia and David help out once a week on Fridays.
“We’ll continue to do this until we’re no longer able to,” Virginia said.
Another volunteer is Marsha Dry, who has been helping out with Meals on Wheels for five years now.
“We have some of the nicest people,” Dry said. “When we knock on the door, they come and they’re so happy to see us. It just makes them feel good that someone is caring for them.”
Those who are interested in volunteering at Meals on Wheels in Odessa can either call them at 432-333-6451 or come into its office building.
“We can give them information and when they come in to the office, we have them fill out a form,” Burton said. “We take a copy of their driver’s license. We try to explain all the operations to them and do a short orientation. We have maps of each rout and they’re very specific. If it’s a yellow house, we’ll put that down to help them find the location.”
More information can be found at https://www.mowodessa.com/ and Burton says they’ll work with anybody’s schedule.
“We try to give them all the information they need,” Burton said. “Then they decide what days they would like to deliver. Maybe it’s once a month or a couple of days a month. It depends on their schedule. I really don’t encourage people to drive every day because then they’ll get burned out and we’ll lose them. So I advise to maybe do once or twice a week if they have the time because I don’t want them to get burned out. I want to keep them as a volunteer.”
