Because of a remarkable group of volunteers MCH Meals on Wheels is able to deliver 25,000 meals to more than 200 seniors and disabled individuals in Knox County every year.

One of these remarkable volunteers is Lorri Cousens. Many locals know Lorri from her 30 years co-running the award-winning Waterman's Beach Lobster, a popular restaurant that closed in 2016. For many seniors in our community however, Lorri is a lifeline.

MCH Meals on Wheels is one of the ways Lorri donates her time to those in need in Knox County. She started delivering meals seven years ago during the restaurant off-season.

As Lorri got to know the people on her route, she found there were a number of simple things she could do to make life easier for them. Many of the Meals on Wheels recipients cannot drive, so Lorri started giving them rides. She has driven people to medical appointments, grocery stores, Walmart, a storage unit, and even to get a Christmas tree. 

She has made good friends as a result of delivering meals.

“You never know where you'll meet someone,” she said.

While she only delivers Meals on Wheels once a week, she visits with her elderly friends nearly every day; in fact, Lorri visits one of her elderly friends, a woman with no close family and whose closest friend spends winters away, at least four times a week in the winter. If she is unable to visit, she will call on the phone.

“Anyone can call and talk for five minutes, to show someone cares,” she said. 

Lorri often prepares food on weekends, delivering her homemade cooking when Meals on Wheels doesn’t make deliveries.  In the spring and summer, she likes to take to her friends a potted plant, flowers or a tomato to help keep their days brighter.

She once brought in a catered lobster dinner for an elderly couple who are both wheelchair-bound. She set up the table outside and brought the couple out to enjoy. They were thrilled with the al fresco experience.

“Lorri is a wonderful friend, compassionate, kind,” said Ellen, whose birthday celebration prompted the lobster dinner. “I am privileged to know this incredible lady.”

Lorri asked what Ellen wanted for her birthday lunch and then delivered; from the diet peach Snapple to the tossed salad.

“It was a beautiful day all around, because of Lorri and my husband,” said Ellen.L

orri also drove another gentleman to a furniture store to buy new furniture for the first time in his life.

One of Lorri's goals is to get young people more involved in giving back to the community; to raise their awareness and bring smiles to her friends. Lorri was previously a teacher and tutor. She reached out to a Kindergarten teacher she knows and arranged to speak in the class. After explaining Meals on Wheels the children understood how some elderly people do not have any family. The students wrote notes and Lorri delivered them the next time she made her Meals on Wheels rounds.

The seniors loved the notes, and one woman even wrote back to the children, who were in turn delighted. Lorri wants to encourage more students to be pen pals with seniors, or to at least send cards for special occasions.

“A lot of people are lonely and this is a way to help while teaching kids about empathy,” she said.

Lorri was an activities director in a nursing home when she first married, so she has always been attuned to senior issues. Its second nature to “notice where there is a need,” since she is “always looking for ways to help” and hopes to inspire the same in others, causing the good to keep going.

“All it takes is a little bit of time, and you can help somebody, just smiling or caring can help, it can change someone's day,” she said.

She does what she can to recruit new volunteers, even writing a letter to the editor about Meals on Wheels which is so critical to keeping adults independent in their homes. 

With volunteers like Lorri and despite an increasingly challenging funding environment, MCH Meals on Wheels continues to prepare and deliver nutritious meals every Monday through Friday to the doorsteps of homebound seniors and disabled individuals in our community, without a waiting list. 

Lorri lives in Thomaston with her husband, Dave.  Her parents, sisters, in-laws, and three adult sons and their families all live on the same road. With a solid and close family like that, it is easy to see why Lorri loves to reach out to those living alone, without family anywhere close by.