Meet Three Clients
Our clients come to us for a variety of reasons, stay with us for short or long durations and need meals a few days a week or every day. Whatever their reasons, we are here to help and glad they found us. Meet three of our clients who chose to share their stories.
Bill Walton
William “Bill” Walton started
receiving meals just over six years ago.
He contacted us when his wife fell ill
and could no longer do the cooking.
Sadly, Bill lost his wife recently and has
suffered illness himself; that’s why he’s
stayed a MOW client for so many years.
Bill is a talented musician and artist.
When in the Navy his artwork appeared
in the South Atlantic News; in his
civilian career he was the art director for
IBM and shared his talents with many
organizations. Bill is still surrounded
by his music and instruments - he plays
the banjo, ukelale, guitar, keyboard
and harmonica! He also coached the
Ridgefield Little League and Pop
Warner football for many years. Bill
enjoys seeing and saying “hello” to our
drivers and confirms, “MOW never
misses a meal!”
Phyllis Franceschini
1995 was a tough year for Phyllis
Franceschini; she lost her husband and
soon thereafter suffered a serious illness
that put her in the hospital. When she
returned home she realized
she would be unable
to shop for or prepare her
own meals and thought
to call Meals on Wheels.
Phyllis began receiving meals 7 days a
week. Over time her health improved
and she found she didn’t need meal
service quite so frequently and reduced
her meal service to three days a
week, which is what she currently receives.
Phyllis prepares meals on the
weekends and one of her sons, who
lives with her, helps during the week.
Meals on Wheels fills the gaps. Phyllis
is a Ridgefield native and worked for
20+ years at the old Genovese pharmacy.
She tells us Meals on Wheels is
the best service in town - we meet her
needs and are very reliable!
Mr. and Mrs. Carroll
Mr. and Mrs. Carroll moved to
Ridgefield in 1958 and started receiving
meals in February of this
year. Twenty-five years
ago Mrs. Carroll distinctly
remembers meeting
a woman in the A&P
grocery store who was having difficulty
doing her own shopping. She offered to
help and soon began driving her to and
from the grocery store. As time passed,
the woman began receiving Meals on
Wheels and Mrs. Carroll noticed how
wonderful the meals looked when she
visited her in her home. And now, 25
years later, when Mrs. Carroll realized
she could no longer cook for she and
her husband, her memory of those
delicious meals prompted her to call
Meals on Wheels. Mr. Carroll does
some of the cooking today and they
have children in the area who help out
when they can. Meals on Wheels fills
the gap so no one family member gets
overburdened. Mr. and Mrs. Carroll
particularly like our ham and cheese
sandwiches, meat loaf entree and cakes.
They also really enjoy the occasional
gifts we pass along that were made by
local school children.