NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - North Little Rock's CareLink center broke ground on a new facility Thursday. The non-profit kitchen feeds 1,200 people in the area every day.
Just one of those 1,200 people is 94-year-old Bill Spradlin. While he is now on the receiving end of the Meals on Wheels program, he used to be the one knocking on doors.
"Well, my wife had done it for some period of time, some two or three years," Spradlin remembered.
When she passed away, he decided to continue her service and started delivering meals on his own. For three years, Spradlin delivered meals to neighbors four or five times a week. That went on until he physically couldn't do it anymore.
"I had difficult time getting in and out of the car so I had to give it up."
So now, instead of delivering meals five times a week, Spradlin graciously receives them.
"They do a good job preparing them and selecting," he says. "And I can recognize how they've been working in proper nutrients in."
With the new CareLink building, workers are now able to focus more on the nutrition of the meals they serve.
CareLink CEO Diane Eubanks said the new facility will allow cooks to provide better quality food to those in need.
"We can't even do all the meals we do hot. We have to do some frozen because we're operating out of space meant for 250 or 300 meals and we're doing 1200 meals out of it," Eubanks said.
Regardless of how healthy the meals are, grateful Meals on Wheels recipients are just thankful for the service provided to them.
"It's given me a lot of security certainly to have a meal since I do have problem getting around," Spradlin said.
And even though he has a problem getting around, his family tradition of service continues. Spradlin's granddaughter now delivers Meals on Wheels, in between her college classes.