Retired Mail Carrier Dave McGann delivers Comfort and Smiles

Candy Puterbaugh

SOME MIGHT MISTAKE Dave McGann for St Nick. Both “a little old driver so lively and quick” as the famous poem goes, they’re both known for delivering hope and happiness and wearing their hearts on their sleeves.

But the resemblance ends there. Dave, at 83, is slight, favors an Indiana Jones hat, and drives a Buick.

But he’s still in the delivery game. Soon after retiring as a mail carrier nearly 20 years ago, he volunteered to deliver Meals On Wheels (MOW).

“I was born to be a servant!” says the friendly man with the gift of gab. He carries that gift, plus bags of food and a smile, Monday and Wednesday mornings to folks around North Portland, where he grew up and later delivered mail.

Packing his cart with brown bags of healthy meals with a fruit, vegetable, protein and dessert, he makes his first stop of the day. Knocking loudly, he calls, “Meals on Wheels!”

When Leo answers, Dave greets  him by name, asks how he is, and hands him a meal. When invited in, as he sometimes is, he stays and chats a while. “What a nice new electric wheelchair you’ve got, Leo!  I see you’re watching ‘The Price is Right’— I watch that all the time! Oh, how nice that you have a donation for us. Thanks, Leo — see you next time!”

If his knock goes unanswered, Dave calls. Then, if no answer, he calls Meals on Wheels to make sure they’re okay.

One resident who didn’t answer was on a new medication that kept her sleeping. Another he heard screaming: she’d fallen into her tub and couldn’t get up. Dave called 911, and fire trucks soon arrived.

He remembers a lady who was bedridden in her big home. “She looked so beautiful and too young to be lying there. I cried all the way to my car.”

Dave thinks of these residents as his second family; he has a wife, Diane, and a large family himself. “Sometimes I see pictures of kids and grandkids all over their walls but am told I’m the only one they see. They are so grateful for companionship and a healthy meal.”

It was a former teacher of Dave’s that talked him into volunteering for MOW after retirement. “I signed up for one day a week but liked it so much that I delivered five days weekly until the pandemic. I used to judge people’s eligibility for receiving free meals until I visited a man who looked like a healthy football player. It shook me

up when he died of a heart attack, and I never judged again.”

For five of the 44 years Dave delivered mail — following in his grandfather’s footsteps — he was the top mail carrier in Portland due to seniority.

“I loved carrying mail from day one!” he says. “I was one of those who raised my hand when they needed help! I was fast and tried to be the first one out each morning. Sometimes I run when I deliver meals but I’m more careful since I fell once.”

Not idle as a child either, Dave mowed lawns and delivered papers. His parents divorced when he was in third grade, and his family of seven relied on neighbors. “We were poor kids but didn’t know it,” he says. “Everybody helped each other.” Dave’s been giving back ever since, including coaching Little League and flag football, and being a Scoutmaster.

“Delivering meals is just like carrying mail,” Dave says. “You get attached to these people. I encourage anyone to try it. You get paid not in money but in gratitude. It makes you feel good — we ought to take care of our neighbors. I’ve been blessed with a good life and want that for others. I want everyone to be healthy and happy.”

Meals On Wheels People serves meals to anyone over 60 in Multnomah, Washington and Clark counties. They rely on over 200 volunteers every day to deliver meals to homebound seniors, make phone calls, or serve lunch at their dining centers. Visit mowp.org/volunteer to learn more.

To learn about Meals on Wheels in Eugene, contact Food For Lane County at 541 343 2822. For Lane County areas not including Eugene, contact Lane Council of Governments at 541 682 3353. In Salem and Keizer, contact Marion Polk Food Share at 503 364 2856.

To request meal service in the Portland area, call 503-953-8111 or go to mowp.org/what-we-do/online-meal-request

Candy is a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, groan-inducing punster, writer, competitive runner, pet lover and tender of gardens.