One by one they trudge into the dining room at Munson Manor, many of them tired from spending the day with loved ones in the hospital.

Some of them lost in thought. When will I be able to go home? How am I going to pay for this? What am I going to do for dinner tonight?

Suddenly, they remember where they are and look up. They smell the freshly cooked meal wafting across the big kitchen. They see the smiles of the volunteer workers who prepared the meal. Suddenly, they feel the “home touch” they so desperately needed.

The smiles return to their faces. They start to think more positive thoughts about the situation. And they go out of their way to give a heartfelt “Thank You” to volunteers.

That is the experience of volunteering at Munson Manor, something I started doing with Rotary and my good friend John Racine 10 years ago. We would form a team of four people-John and his wife Linda and my wide Lois and I.

We not only were doing something good for someone-after all, the Rotary motto is Service Above Self-but we genuinely had fun preparing a meal for 30 people in the beautiful Munson Manor kitchen that features multiple ovens, dishwashers, sinks and everything you would need to prepare such a meal.

The hosts of Munson Manor are Norm Weichelt and Char Hanson. They not only oversee guests checking into rooms at the Manor, but also are there to answer questions about where all the pots, pans, plates and glasses are.

They make volunteering to make meals at Munson Manor easy and enjoyable. At Cherryland, we started by doing meals every other month in 2014. This year, we prepare a meal every month. And it’s so popular with our employees that of our 50 employees-25 of us-form teams and prepare meals.

Norm and Char would like to see more companies-and just more people-prepare home cooked meals at Munson Manor.

“We have anywhere from one to three volunteer groups a week,” said Norm. “Some of them are service clubs, like Rotary. Some of them are church groups. And some of them, like Cherryland, are businesses. We would welcome more groups because the residents who are staying at Munson Manor really appreciate the meals when this is their home away from home.”

What do meals consist of? Well, in July our Cherryland team of Chris Holmes, Debbie Sierzputowski, Caroline Simaz and myself prepared pulled pork sandwiches, with baked beans, potato salad, chocolate sheet cake, lemonade and water.

We started prepping the meal at 4p.m., served it from 5:30-6:30, put the leftovers in one of four refrigerators, cleaned up and left by 7p.m.

What keeps us coming back is the Munson Manor staff, the first-class facilities and-most importantly-the appreciation that the residents express to us. It is heartfelt gratitude.

It’s why more companies and groups should look into volunteering at the Manor. You can contact Norm at [email protected] or call him at 935-2300. It will be the best thing you do this week.