TAMPA, Fla. — A Polk County man has spent several decades being involved with the Meals on Wheels of Polk County, the organization that delivers meals to shut in residents.

What You Need To Know

  •  82-year-old Ken Nelson served on the Meals on Wheels board for decades

  •  Nelson served as a volunteer driver delivering meals during the pandemic

  •  Nelson helps to pack up hundreds of meals a day

  • Nominate an Everyday Hero

Ken Nelson, 82, served on the organization’s board for decades and in recent years he has both delivered meals and worked on meal preparation at the Meals on Wheels facility in Winter Haven.

Nelson knows all the ins-and-outs of how the organization works. He can take you on a tour of the facility, including a huge cooler where food is stored.

“Today was a rather simple prep day because it’s food that we actually didn’t have to prepare that much. Just potato salad,” he said as he displayed a big container of the food.

Nelson also works on the line of volunteers that place the different foods onto plastic takeout style containers.

“Oh yea,’’ he said while working on the line. “There’ll be over 400 meals today.”

Executive Director Susan Eldridge said Nelson is one of her many outstanding volunteers.

“We couldn’t do it without the volunteers,” she said. “We had mentioned they are 98% of our workforce.”

Nelson enjoyed his time as a volunteer driver taking meals to people in their homes.

“I like to be out and see the smiles on the people’s faces when then got those meals,” he said. “And felt that there was someone there to care about them.”

Nelson is very enthusiastic about his volunteer work.

“Just the idea of helping other people,” he said. “Giving back to God. God has given me a good life, so I feel like I owe it to him to help other people.”