Members of the Meals on Two Wheels team, Richard Goodman, Bob Ehrheart, Al Pacos and George Sinclaire, are pictured before they deliver on their route. OBSERVER Photo by Natasha Matteliano

The Meals on Two Wheels delivery team rolled out for their 12th season May 7.

Meals on Two Wheels is a fleet of four bikes equipped with safety gear, trailers and signs that deliver meals to senior citizens. The fleet travels all throughout Dunkirk delivering meals once a week, partnering with the local Meals on Wheels program.

Richard Goodman is the founder of the program, which began in 2008. It provides more than just meals to the senior citizens, according to Goodman, as they also offer a friendly face and someone to talk to every week.

“We like to check on the folks and make sure they’re OK,” Goodman said.

Spoke Folk, the project’s parent organization, is in its 14th year of operation and has seen approximately 1,100 bikes and 1,200 helmets pass through its doors, which were mostly donated or abandoned. Those bikes and helmets are then refurbished and distributed to those in need.

The program started at the State University of New York at Fredonia and helped to provide free or low-cost refurbished bicycles and repairs to underprivileged communities.

Although Spoke Folk is currently scaled down, it is affiliated with the University of Buffalo’s Experiential Learning Network and continues to fulfill its core mission of “helping to build a healthier community, one bicycle at a time.” It also supports a sister project in Musoma Tanzania and the Meals on Two Wheels program.

“We got to thinking one day,” Goodman said, “why not use bicycles to deliver meals on wheels? We deliver on our route as efficiently as an automobile and it’s environmentally friendly.”

Spoke Folk is now a scaled-down and independent project, but all the original members are still part of it. “Not one of us is under 75 years old,” Goodman said. “But that just says to the community, ‘you’re never too old.'”

The four bicyclists who deliver the meals include Goodman himself, Bob Ehrheart, Al Pacos, and George Sinclaire. All four team members volunteer their time every week to go on a 25-mile route, which equals to about 525 miles per year. The team enjoys getting the Meals on Two Wheels name out, promoting exercise, and visiting the seniors who receive the meals.

“My hope is to be able to expand it and to do other things with the trailers,” Goodman said. “Like delivering food from pantries, delivering groceries, medicine, and other things that would help the community.”