Suffolk Meals on Wheels is one of the most important local nonprofit organizations.

Meals on Wheels allows those who are unable to prepare their own meals to be able to stay in their own homes longer. The group runs almost entirely by volunteers, who use their own gas, their own cars and their valuable time to deliver hot meals to many people throughout our community who need this service.

There could be all sorts of reasons people are unable to prepare their own meals. They may live alone and no longer be able to see well enough, stand for a long enough period of time, stretch and bend to gather needed items or have the mental cognition to be able to put together a meal safely.

They could be older people or simply people who just got out of the hospital after an injury, illness or operation and need temporary help to be able to go home sooner.

Almost as important as the meal is the daily connection with another human being that the meal delivery allows.

The Meals on Wheels clients are a very important part of our community and deserve the excellent service they get from the many volunteers who work for Meals on Wheels.

We applaud the Meals on Wheels organization for honoring its volunteers annually with the volunteer recognition banquet, which took place last week and provided these amazing people with a meal, gifts and a pin for volunteers hitting one, five, 10, 15, 20 or 25 years of service. Yes, there are some amazing people who have been volunteering for more than a quarter of a century!

We hope the Meals on Wheels volunteers always know how much they’re appreciated by our community.