KINGMAN — On any given holiday, 9 to 12 percent of the workforce in the United States is at work, and that’s no exception this Christmas day at the Kingman Regional Medical Center. But, in addition to that, there is a large number of volunteers who have come together to assemble, distribute and deliver Meals on Wheels.
The effort was coordinated through the KRMC Foundation, the hospital’s community support group. Foundation Director Cecelia Clouser said the holiday tradition is one the organization is proud to uphold.
“What makes today special is the foundation sponsors the meal today for 115 community residents who are part of the Meals on Wheels program.” Ms. Clouser continued, “The hospital’s Nutrition Services prepares the meals, as they do on a daily basis, but what is different about today is that Meals on Wheels volunteers get the day off, and they are replaced with KRMC Foundation volunteers that come in, package the meals, and deliver them to the recipients of the Meals on Wheels program.”
Inside the hospital, KRMC Nutrition Services operated with the precision and energy of a beehive—serving patients, staff, and off‑site locations such as the Hualapai Mountain Campus. Director Morgan Jonseck said the team works hard to make each holiday meal unique.
“We always look at what we did in prior years and make sure it’s going to be different,” Jonseck said. “We’ll know a couple weeks to a month ahead of time what we’ll be preparing and what we can get ordered to ensure we have enough. We do everything from scratch here. It’s a lot of work. It’s not ‘heat and eat.’”
For such a major undertaking, it is impressive how everything works together. It is also rewarding to see community volunteers rally around for this holiday exercise. Outside, volunteers lined up in their vehicles to receive their delivery routes. Among them were Autumn and her husband Andrew, who decided to spend part of their Christmas giving back.
“We just wanted to give back to the people that can’t get the things for themselves,” Andrew said.
Another volunteer, Barb King, echoed the sentiment as she waited for her car to be loaded.
“Just because it’s such a blessing,” she said. “We just love to be able to give back a little bit of what we’ve got.”
The loading process continued throughout the morning as volunteers prepared to fan out across the community, ensuring that every participating resident received a hot holiday meal.
