WARREN, Ohio — A service to Trumbull County seniors needs some help as it revs back up to full speed during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Trumbull Mobile Meals delivers food five days a week to homebound seniors and others in need of nourishment. 

The non-profit relies on volunteers to make those deliveries.

David Ford is not your typical volunteer. 

“I’ve been doing this since August of 2018,” he said. “It was the start of my senior year in college and I had a few days off, so I needed something to do.”

He passed on hanging out at home to pass out food. 

“Most everyone I talked to was kind of surprised when I started doing it,” he said. “Just cause, I mean, shoot . . . most of the volunteers at Mobile Meals are older.”

Looking around the non-profit’s office and kitchen in Warren, it’s clear that most of the folks giving their time are indeed a little older. 

“I enjoy it and I know I’m helping people,” Carol Olson said. “Was my goal when I retired.”

She volunteers in the kitchen, preparing hot food for delivery.

“Someday, I might need it,” Olson said.

The organization serves about 250 people in Trumbull County, which requires a lot of drivers. 

Trumbull Mobile Meals Director Becky Edwards said they have about 200 volunteers in their system, but some have health and safety concerns due to COVID-19. 

“They haven’t all come back,” she said. “That’s why there’s a shortage. They haven’t all come back yet.”

But the group’s mission to feed those in need rolls on. With the help of folks like Ford.

“I was always taught to respect, respect my elders is the old saying,” he said. 

The 23-year-old said he’s actually been helping the organization since an even younger age. 

“My grandma used to do this after she retired for a little bit and I think I went on a route or two with her when I was really young,” he said.