By Cleo-Symone Scott

Intern

Volunteers who spend their days serving others were able to sit back and get served on Tuesday night.

Suffolk Meals on Wheels honored its volunteers with dinner at the Suffolk Shrine Club. The place was packed with volunteers and their guests ready to dine. Volunteers who hit one, five, 10, 15, 20 or 25 years of service received special recognition during the dinner and were awarded pins.

“This is just a small way to show appreciation each year for those that give back so much,” Executive Director Roseland Worrell told the volunteers during the dinner. “You know they say it takes a village, and we’re really a big village that makes it work.”

Suffolk Meals on Wheels has more than 225 volunteers, which includes members of more than a dozen churches, adult day care center FACES Community Services, and more. Suffolk Public School students can even come deliver meals for Meals on Wheels to fulfill their volunteer requirement for graduation.

Volunteers take time out of their busy schedules to deliver hot, nutritious food to homebound residents in the Suffolk and Isle of Wight area who are not able or find it difficult to prepare meals for themselves. Meals are delivered at lunchtime every Monday through Friday. A registered dietician at Sentara Obici Food Services Department oversees the preparation of the meals to make sure each client’s dietary needs are met.

Among those recognized were Kitty Martin, Pam Saunders and Gary Saunders for 20 years of volunteering with Suffolk Meals on Wheels. “It makes me feel good to see people putting in so much effort,” said Worrell, who celebrated her 10th year with the organization this year.

Visit suffolkmealsonwheels.com for more information. The list of those honored on Tuesday for milestone years of volunteerism is as follows:

1 year — Ken Stone, Kimberly Stone, Kimberly Baines, Nancy Turner, Terri Birdsong, Carol Stock, FACES Community, Sandra Edwards, Angela Jenkins, Walt Silver, Charles Bland, George Stubbs, Jerry Metcalf, Kent Daughtrey, Helen Dorner, Lee Miller, Ellen Butler, Quwanda Burnett, Donna Fountain, Home Instead Senior Care, Pauline Knight, Delores Brown

5 years — Thomas Woodward III, Bill McCarron, Yvonne Matson, Grace Allison, Sharon Davis, Jennifer Homan, Jane Albert, Vic Goodman, Michael Hamerly, Sandra Martin, Faye Copeland, Paige Tomlin

10 years — Adele Brown, Donnie Brown, Sue Spring, Sharon Slate, Charlotte Bauer, Marilyn Boyce, Shirley Weaver, Pam Hill, Mary Lee Willis, Angel Grimes, Michael Grimes, Elbert Barrow, Jimmie Harrell, Norma Frye, Peg Lockwood, John Butrick, Connie Harrell, Frances Mizelle

15 years — Georgie Copeland, Frances Carr, Gary Meyers, Thomas Young, Vivian Young, Patricia Tinkham, Carolyn Massengill, Martha Reese, Mary Kiger, Mary Sherard, Carol Tinkham, Ann Saunders, Karen Morris

20 years — Kitty Martin, Pam Saunders, Gary Saunders