After more than 46 years of planning delivery routes for Lititz Meals on Wheels, Ken Henry has retired from volunteering. Henry is 99, and he is due to turn 100 at the end of September.

On April 19, Rebecca Sollenberger, district director for Sen. Ryan Aument visited Ken at his home along Route 501 in Lititz to present him with an award for his public service. "This is a citation from the Senate (of Pennsylvania) congratulating and honoring you for your 46 years of service to Meals on Wheels of Lititz and thanking you for all you have done for the community and the organization," said Sollenberger. "It is a pleasure for me to meet someone like you," she added.

Ken became involved in Meals on Wheels after his wife, Virginia, who was called Ginny, began organizing delivery volunteers. "When my wife, Ginny, did the routes, I would help her," explained Ken, adding that because Ginny could not type and he could, he took over. When his son bought him a computer and a printer, he transferred the files to the new technology. He color-coded clients' names based on special diets and other needs. After Ginny became ill and died, he continued coordinating the delivery volunteers.

Currently, a large number of Meals on Wheels drivers deliver to about 60 area residents in Warwick School District. "We have four routes," said Ken. "The best way is to have a driver and a runner to deliver. Many drivers do one day a week and the same route each time," he explained.

George Nickel, president of the Lititz Meals on Wheels board, noted that the job Ken volunteered for is especially important because the clients receiving meals change regularly. "If we add a new client or a client went to the hospital or when they visit relatives and we don't deliver, ... Ken managed (all those details) too." Nickel added that Ken's work experience selling flooring in different areas developed his geographic skills. "Ken has a way of knowing how to make a route more efficient," said Nickel. "He knows the streets and (the shortest) ways to get from point A to point B." Nickel also noted that some clients have Leola and Manheim addresses. "We go up near Middle Creek in Elizabeth Township," he said. Ken added that the group used to deliver to a client in Hopeland.

"We try not to turn anybody down," Nickel said.

Ken recalls drivers who went the extra mile for clients. "We had a lady from Rothsville who wanted to drive, and she did a great job," said Ken, who said that at one point, a covered bridge near a Leola client's home was undergoing construction making it impossible for the volunteer to deliver to the client. "When they wouldn't let her cross the bridge, she talked a construction worker into delivering the meal," said Ken, who chuckled over the woman's tenacity.

Readers who want to know more about the Lititz Meals on Wheels program may visit https://lititzcob.org/community-life/meals-on-wheels. Those who wish to volunteer may call 717-626-2500.