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April McMaster holds a red Meals on Wheels delivery bag beside labeled warming units in the kitchen — Food delivery for seniors across Birmingham starts in the Meals on Wheels kitchen with employees like April McMaster. (Jacob Blankenship / Bham Now)

What if you could have a successful career while also making a real difference in people’s lives? For April McMaster, Program Director of Meals on Wheels, an initiative of United Way of Central Alabama (UWCA), these two things go hand in hand.

Here’s a look at how this Birmingham local turned her passion for helping others into meaningful work and why UWCA has been the perfect place for her to make an impact.

Meet the Birmingham leader behind Meals on Wheels in Central Alabama

April McMaster, Program Director of Meals on Wheels and Erika Walton, Meals on Wheels Kitchen Manager smiling — (L-R) April McMaster, Program Director, and Erika Walton, Kitchen Manager, coordinate volunteers + food prep to ensure local seniors have what they need. (Jacob Blankenship / Bham Now)

To learn more about Meals on Wheels and her role, I met up with April at UWCA in Birmingham. She’d been up since 4AM with her almost-one-year-old, helped her two older daughters get to school and made it to work while many of us were still sitting in rush-hour traffic.

It was the perfect introduction to April: She’s a mom of three, a busy professional and someone who spends her days making sure other people are taken care of. As Program Director of Meals on Wheels, which provides a hot meal, a check-in and help connecting seniors with anything else they need, that’s important.

Meals on Wheels helps 1,500 Birmingham seniors daily

Meals On Wheels Sccoping Pudding How Birmingham's Meals on Wheels director feeds 1,500 seniors daily + new jobs open now — It takes dedicated employees and volunteers to prep food for Meals on Wheels deliveries across Birmingham. (Jacob Blankenship / Bham Now)

April has worked in the nonprofit sector for nearly 15 years, helping seniors and other neighbors who get overlooked. She’s spent more than five years serving seniors through UWCA and nearly two years with Meals on Wheels.

Today, she helps lead a program serving about 1,500 local seniors by delivering meals daily across 68 routes in Jefferson County.

Nearly 600 volunteers help prepare meals, plan deliveries and support senior centers. Case managers also work with clients to identify additional needs and connect them with community resources.

If you need a little support, or want to help someone who does, here’s how to get involved with Meals on Wheels:

Need support? Call 1-800-AGE-LINE to find out about available support.
Want to help? Volunteer, donate or refer a client.

Meals on Wheels provides more than food to Birmingham seniors

A United Way volunteer delivers a packaged meal to a senior client holding a white cane on his porch

_{Meals on Wheels volunteers provide meals and connection to seniors in need across Birmingham. (United Way of Central Alabama)}

Helping others is at the heart of April’s work. So when I asked why she stays in the nonprofit sector, her answer wasn’t surprising.

“I have a passion for serving others. I love that I get to help people every day and make a positive impact.”
April McMaster, Program Director, Meals on Wheels

For April, that human connection is one of the most meaningful parts of her job.

Many seniors served by Meals on Wheels are homebound, live alone or have limited social support. A volunteer may be the only person they see that day.

A client once told April that she gets up and gets ready each morning because she knows her volunteer is coming. That volunteer was the only person she had to connect with all day.

Moments like that remind April why her work matters.