Bradley, Meals on Wheels Abilene’s executive director, is hands-on as volunteers package meals to deliver around the Big Country. After five decades of pouring her energy into the program that serves seniors and disabled individuals across the Big Country, Bradley announced her retirement this year.
Her time at Meals on Wheels began in 1971 when she started delivering meals to the elderly as part of a women’s organization at her church. That organization decided to create a community Meals on Wheels organization in 1975 to allow the program to continue to grow.
Bradley says when that expanded program first started, the board was looking for someone who was willing to organize it, determine community need and coordinate volunteers as a full-time volunteer for the program.
"The board of directors asked me if I would do it and I was scared,” Bradley said. “I just have a high school education. There is so much I didn’t know and I was a stay-at-home mother with two small children, my husband was in the Air Force stationed at Dyess and so I prayed about it. I prayed really hard and then I felt a call on my life, so I said I would try Meals on Wheels and the board said they’re still trying me."
A lot has changed since she first stepped into the role. Originally, she says the program was not very organized, but, as she grew in the role and Meals on Wheels continued to expand, Bradley added more structure.
One home visit helped drive some of the changes. During a delivery to the North side of Abilene, no one came to the door except the meal. Bradley opened the door and called out — with no response. She entered the house and found the person on the floor. Bradley called an ambulance and was able to help them, but discovered that Meals on Wheels had no way of knowing their customers’ medical information or who to contact in an emergency.
So Bradley decided they needed to interview the customers so Meals on Wheels had a plan in place in case of emergencies.
"So that was one of the first things I did,” Bradley said. “I also held an appreciation event and training for everybody who had been delivering meals and worked with the board of directors, trying to find a place where we could find our own kitchen and was also investigating funding and trying to raise money so it was full-time.”
Before the program had its own kitchen, volunteers collected meals from various locations around town, such as Hendrick Medical Center, Rose Park Community Center and a restaurant.
What started as a delivery route of a few people around Abilene has now grown to an organization with its own building with a kitchen that delivers food to more than 17-hundred people in Stonewall County, Jones County, Callahan County and Runnels County.
Bradley’s effectiveness is well-known.
Reed Strafford, a board member for Meals on Wheels Abilene, says the organization’s national leadership recently honored Bradley at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. They presented her with the Sister Marie Alice Quinn award, named after the leader who established St. Vincent’s Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles, California.
“There’s literally a tagline that the national office in Washington D.C. uses and it’s ‘be like Betty,’” Stafford said.
Stafford says that Bradley’s contributions to the program have meant more than anyone could imagine.
“We want to honor her and saying thank you just does not quite feel appropriate at times just because she’s done so much,” Stafford said. "Beyond organizing and growing the organization, Bradley has fought hard for funding. She advocated for a home-delivered meal grant program, which the Texas Department of Agriculture adopted in 2007. That created a new income stream for programs statewide. And last year, when the federal government considered slashing funding-she traveled to Washington, D.C. to fight against the cuts, that proposal eventually died and funding continued.
When Bradley announced her retirement in June, the board asked her to give them one year to find a replacement, which Strafford said is no easy task. They’re conducting a national search to find someone who can maintain and develop the relationships the way Betty Bradley has done over the last five decades.