Getting organized to prepare more than 20 meals for Mackinac Island's Meals on Snowmobiles are (from left) volunteer Megan Kromer and co-founders Kathy Andress and Jewel Geyer. The meals are prepared in the kitchen at Ste. Anne's Catholic Church and delivered by volunteers twice weekly to Island seniors during the winter months. (Photograph by Jennifer Bloswick) Meals on Snowmobiles completes its second season on Mackinac Island with seniors appreciating the twice-weekly meals delivered to their door, hot from the oven.

"Actually, it's just good food and saves me from having to prepare a meal," said Kent Weber, 68, who has lived on Mackinac since 1972. "I'm grateful for it."

The program was conceived last year by Kathy Andress and Jewell Geyer and is similar to the national Meals on Wheels program.

"It's been a great success," said Ms. Andress. "It's my service to the community. I don't have a family, so it's my way of contributing."

While laid off from their summer Island jobs in the fall of 2005, the women had time to fill and wanted to do something beneficial for the community. During the summer, Kathy Andress runs her own lawn care business and Jewell Geyer owns the Astor Street Cafe, which is closed during the winter.

They came up with the program's plan and approached the Mackinac Island Community Foundation for support.

The foundation board contributed $1,000 toward food costs last year.

"It's a great thing to give people twice a week, a well rounded nourishing meal," said Jennifer Bloswick, the foundation's executive director.

Now, one year later, Ms. Andress and Ms. Geyer continue to plan and prepare approximately 20 meals every Tuesday and Thursday using the kitchen at Ste. Anne's Catholic Church.

Once the food is taken out of the oven and packed into disposal containers, volunteers Susan Sanderson, Megan Kromer, Trisha Bunker, and Jill Horn hop on their snowmobiles to deliver the hot meals to Island seniors and handicapped residents. While Jewell Geyer cleans the kitchen, Kathy Andress also delivers the meals. It gives her an opportunity, she said, to make sure people are doing fine.

"It's a good way to check on people," she said.

"Part of what makes the program attractive to people here is that they just don't have to do anything," Mrs. Bloswick explained.

The meal service begins in January and lasts until spring when melting snow sends snowmobiles back into storage. Ms. Andress said their schedule is flexible, though they usually begin serving the meals after January 1 and stop the food service around St. Patrick's Day.

The program is funded through the Mackinac Island Community Foundation, which upped its funding by $500 for a total of $1,500 this winter. Ste. Anne's Catholic Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, Little Stone Church, and the Mackinac Island Bible Church also contribute to the program, and this year, the service also received an extra funding boost from several private donors and St. Onge Laxtex and Groove, said Mrs. Bloswick.

There is no cost for those who use the program, she added.

Now, Mrs. Bloswick is exploring county support for the program. In February, during a city council meeting, Islanders learned from County Commissioner Joe Durm that the county contributed $10,000 to the Community Action Agency for senior citizen programs, which includes its Meals on Wheels program. Those funds do not reach the Island for their meal service.

Mrs. Bloswick said she would not be asking the Community Action Agency to prepare meals for Island seniors, though funding support may be how the agency could assist the Island program.

Ms. Andress agrees that with additional support they could make meals available five days a week. She said their plan would be to continue to provide warm meals two days a week and provide a three-day supply of frozen meals that residents could heat up later.

"There's no reason why we shouldn't go for it," she said. She said she would like to continue the program next year, though she admitted she may move off the Island next winter to seek employment.

"I prefer to work," she noted, adding, "The program will continue either through us or other volunteers."

Mrs. Bloswick agrees.

"The program needs to continue. One way or another, we'll make it happen," she said.