BUFFALO, N.Y. — Retirement is anything but slow for 83-year-old Dick DeLisle and 82-year-old Elaine DeLisle of West Seneca.
"It was during Covid and we saw a crawl across TV saying if you're healthy and have a vehicle, call this phone number, so we did," Elaine said.
The very next day, Dick, a retired president of Scott Aviation, and Elaine, a retired teacher, started volunteering with FeedMore WNY's home delivered meals program. That was three years ago, and every weekday since then, the couple has delivered approximately 20 meals in East Buffalo.
"We're fortunate with the time on our hands we're able to do the 2 runs 5 days a week," Dick said.
In all, it takes them about two hours a day. They have their routine.
"He's out in the car and helps me get the meals together and I take it up to them," Elaine said.
"I don't do stairs too well anymore so she delivers the meals up there. Generally I'll get out of the car and wave to people and say hello but she's the one up there talking with them and you can just see how much they look forward to her being there," Dick said.
The DeLisles specifically chose routes in the most impoverished neighborhoods in East Buffalo. They had volunteered there for decades with Habitat for Humanity.
"When the opportunity came to work right back on the East Side, we said, 'well, we know this area. This will be great for us,'" Dick said.
"A need was there and we could fill it, and we're glad to do it."
They don't just deliver meals. They put together a care package of essential items after a client lost everything in a fire. They also gift little gifts bags with the meals at Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.
"She gives them a little bag of something for a holiday. They didn't expect that and it's probably maybe going to be the only thing they're going to get," Dick said.
They helped with genealogy research for a client who had never seen his father's tombstone. They even called 911 after a 93-year-old client suffered a fall.
"So many of the volunteers are the only people that our home delivered meal clients see that very day, so in the case of Dick and Elaine, they have been there to actually save lives," said Catherine Shick, public relations manager for FeedMore WNY.
"Volunteers are really the beating heart of our mission and we could not continue what we do at FeedMore without them.
They feed the body and feed the soul.
"There's some story behind everyone you're delivering to," Dick said.
They've formed friendships, bonds, and trust.
"They're my Caucasian grandparents. They're the most beautiful people in the world," said one client named Asia.
And the DeLisle's say through this mission, they get more than they give.
"We have been blessed and they are a blessing to us too." Elaine said.
"Helping other people? That's what creates meaning and purpose in your life," Dick said.
According to Shick, the home delivered meals program serves over 6,000 individuals in Erie and Niagara counties and those numbers continually grow. Volunteers can choose to deliver as many or as few meals as their schedules allow. To find out about more volunteering opportunities with FeedMore WNY, click here.