Meals on Wheels of the Jamestown Area has a variety of volunteer opportunities available this winter for individuals from the community to deliver essential meals to area seniors. Helping out to deliver for Meals on Wheels recently were Shults Subaru Sales Manager Darren Hills, along with son, Jacob and daughter, MaKenzie. Shults Subaru and Jamestown Meals on Wheels are again partnering in Subaru’s Share the Love program, which helps local Meals on Wheels programs provide essential home-delivered food to senior citizens.

New car customers looking to buy or lease a new vehicle and support Jamestown Meals on Wheels have until Jan. 2 to accomplish both.

As part of the Subaru and Meals on Wheels Share the Love event through Jan. 2, anyone who buys or leases a new Subaru from Shults Subaru will have the opportunity to help Jamestown Meals on Wheels or Meals on Wheels America receive $250 to help provide essential home-delivered meals locally. Subaru of America will donate $250 to either of the Meals on Wheels entities, if the customer chooses.

“Meals on Wheels and Shults Subaru are once again working together to attract new and existing customers into the Subaru showroom at 311 Fluvanna Ave., Jamestown,” said Barrie Yochim, Jamestown Meals on Wheels executive director.

To help attract even more potential car buyers, Jamestown Meals on Wheels is once again holding a raffle for Subaru apparel and equipment at the dealership, Yochim said. Any person who takes a new Subaru for a test drive at Shults Subaru is eligible to enter the raffle, which has prizes worth hundreds of dollars — including a new Amazon Echo.

“We’re committed to doing as much as we can to get people to come down to Shults Subaru to test drive and ultimately buy or lease a new Subaru,” he said. “Jamestown and Chautauqua County’s senior citizens will benefit from it.”

Jamestown Meals on Wheels currently has a waiting list for services, he said, and any money gained from Share the Love will help get essential home-delivered meals into the hands of Chautauqua County’s seniors more quickly.

This is the sixth year Shults Subaru and Jamestown Meals on Wheels have partnered on the promotion. This local effort is part of Meals on Wheels America’s participation in the national Share the Love event.

As a proud Subaru Share the Love event charitable partner, local Meals on Wheels member programs that partner with Subaru dealerships are eligible to earn funding, which can provide an extra layer of support to help provide nutritious meals to homebound seniors in Chautauqua County.

Subaru is donating the $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased during Share the Love to the customer’s choice of charity, including Meals on Wheels. Over the past ten years, proceeds from the Subaru Share the Love event have provided more than $100 million in funds to support the Meals on Wheels vision to end senior hunger.

“Meals on Wheels is hoping to convince more individuals in the community who are thinking about buying a new Subaru, to get to Shults Subaru by Jan. 2 for a test drive,” Yochim said. “Then, we hope they buy a Subaru, which may lead to Jamestown Meals on Wheels being able to serve even more meals locally.”

The Shults Auto Group — which includes Shults Subaru — has 15 new car franchises with factory-certified service centers, four Express Lube locations, three Auto Spa’s and two collision centers, all located in southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.

As one of the four Subaru Share the Love event charitable partners, Meals on Wheels America is expected to award thousands of dollars in Share the Love funding to local Meals on Wheels programs that partner with Subaru dealerships in the fight to end senior hunger.

Jamestown Meals on Wheels is also encouraging local individuals to step forward and volunteer to help deliver meals to senior citizens in the program’s area of central and southern Chautauqua County, Yochim said.

“We have a number of volunteer delivery routes available,” he said. “All it takes is no more than an hour, once a week or once a month.”

Yochim will accompany any new volunteer to the program the first time that volunteer delivers meals, he said. Yochim most recently accompanied Shults Subaru Sale Manager Darren Hills and Hills’ son and daughter on two separate delivery routes – each which lasted less than 45 minutes. Hills is also a board member for Jamestown Meals on Wheels.

“The delivery of the meals doesn’t take much time at all,” Yochim said. “It’s a great opportunity for anyone to visit some of our community’s greatest people, our senior citizens.”

For more information about Meals on Wheels, including how to volunteer, call 488-9119.