Nancy Hooper is happy to get a hot meal delivered to her house every day, but the one she got yesterday was special -- it was delivered by Gov. Bev. Perdue.
Perdue came to Winston-Salem to help Senior Services Inc. celebrate the delivery of 4 million meals since the Meals on Wheels program began in 1962.
After congratulating staff, donors and volunteers at the Senior Services building on Shorefair Drive, Perdue rode over to Hooper's house on East 28th Street to personally deliver the meal.
"I will never forget this," Hooper told Perdue. She said that with her children working she really needs the volunteers who bring her the meals.
"Meals on Wheels is all I have," Hooper said.
At the Senior Services headquarters, Perdue said that issues of aging and health care were what prompted her to go into public service to begin with.
Perdue recognized several people who have been important to the Meals on Wheels program.
Among them were Bill Magness, who has returned to work as a volunteer after recovering from a shooting last year that left him severely injured. His wife, Anne, and Bob Denning, a Meals on Wheels client, were killed.
The Magnesses were delivering a meal to Denning when they stumbled upon an apparent robbery in progress. The Magnesses were shot as they stood on the front porch of Denning's house. Denning, who had been beaten to death, was found inside the house.
Volunteers do more than bring meals, Perdue said yesterday.
"I believe there is a star in your crown somewhere," she said.
Perdue, 62, joked that she may be getting food from Meals on Wheels by the time it hands out meal 5 million. She also talked about how the state's fiscal crisis had kept the state from doing as much as she had hoped to better senior citizens' lives.
At Hooper's house, family members all gathered around as the governor and television cameras descended.
Hooper told Perdue she was grateful for the meal, but declined her offer to take it to the table so she could start eating.
"I'm not going to eat it until all this is settled," Hooper said.
wyoung@wsjournal.com
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