Despite losing both of her parents by age 7, Ms. Jerri has nothing but happy memories of growing up on a farm in the tiny town of Lake View, S.C. She smiles so big as she remembers looking after the baby chicks they ordered from Sears, tending the garden, and making mud cakes. She especially loved caring for a white runt piglet, which she named John Henry, as well as Sunday afternoons, when she could play dress up or “climb the Chinaberry trees like monkeys” with her friends.
Meals on Wheels brings Ms. Jerri a great deal of happiness, too. She had a heart attack earlier this year, and since she doesn’t enjoy cooking much anymore, she wasn’t eating very well. Her daughter, Carol, signed her up to receive meals, and Ms. Jerri is delighted with the food and the volunteers.
“I am so happy to see them come. I’ve gotten to know each volunteer, and I just love it. They always have something good, and I especially like the bananas and apples,” Ms. Jerri shares.
Ms. Jerri loves to reminisce. After graduating high school, she was a switchboard operator before she decided to go to nursing school at Roper. She met her husband, who passed away many years ago, while he was in pharmacy school. When they moved to Aiken and she couldn’t find a nursing job, she went to business school and put those skills to use working in a real estate office in Birmingham, AL. Her favorite holiday was always Easter, when she would give each of her three children four eggs to dye and then hide them over and over so they could hunt eggs all afternoon.
These days, there are plenty of things that bring Ms. Jerri happiness—her dog Molly, attending church and listening to the music, and reading (as a child, she would sneak under her bed with a lamp to read at night). She appreciates being able to live in her own home, and she says the meals she receives are “delicious and seem like they are prepared just for me.”
“I’m so very thankful for the people that deliver the meals, as well as the generous people and businesses that contribute to buy the meals. It’s wonderful to know that I don’t have to worry about where my lunch is going to come from, and my daughter doesn’t have to worry about me, either,” she says.
Favorite thing to cook: Chocolate Pound Cake
Favorite color: Turquoise
Favorite Hobby: Reading
Meals on Wheels in One word: Wonderful
East Cooper Meals on Wheels serves almost 300 recipients daily, who currently range in age from 35-98. Now through December 31, 2019, donations of $100 or more will be matched by several local partners, including:
- Carroll Limited Partnership up to $1,000 of Isle of Palms donations
- Feed The Need up to $10,000 of Mt. Pleasant donations
- Daniel Island Community Fund up to $5,000 of Daniel Island donations
- Edward and Sallie Pritchard up to $2,000 of Sullivan’s Island donations
During the holiday season, the organization works especially hard to ensure that no homebound neighbor is forgotten or hungry. East Cooper Meals on Wheels serves anyone who is homebound and cannot prepare a meal, including people of any age and any income level. Because the organization is 100% funded through community support, contributions ensure that the organization can continue its mission of delivering more than a meal to residents of Daniel Island, Mt. Pleasant, Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, Cainhoy, and Wando. There is never a waiting list and never a charge for meals. Anyone can refer a friend, family member, neighbor, or themselves to begin receiving meals—call 843.881.9350, email rhamilton@ecmow.org, or visit www.ecmow.org.