AUGUSTA – Members of the Appropriations Committee were urged Tuesday to try to find $100,000 a year to fund gasoline expenses for those who volunteer their time to the Meals on Wheels program.

The sponsor of LD 1703, Rep. James Campbell, R-Newfield, said rising gasoline costs were beginning to negatively affect the agency’s ability to attract and retain volunteers who use their personal vehicles to take meals to the elderly in their homes. For many recipients, he said, the service goes beyond a nutritious dinner.

“This is more than just a meal for those who sometimes go for days without seeing anyone,” he said. “It’s not just a meal for them. It also provides them with a little bit of company.”

Although Gov. John E. Baldacci had included additional money in his supplemental budget for volunteers who help deliver state services, representatives of the agencies that assist the elderly said their organizations were not included in the budget package.

Gail Ward, nutrition director at the Eastern Maine Agency on Aging in Bangor, said added fuel costs for volunteers have arrived at a time when an increased demand has been placed on the Meals on Wheels program.

“Many are facing financial hardship, perhaps in part because of the cost of gas and other energy costs,” she said. “When we have referrals for people outside of our regular delivery areas, I do have to consider the cost of delivery in deciding how we can serve them.”

Ward said that if all of the referrals from outside the agency’s current delivery area were accepted along with those within its region of service, the program could be $41,000 over budget before the year is half over.

“This deficit is alarming and has to be addressed,” she said. “If more income cannot be raised, then we will have to reduce costs.”

Representing the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, Laurence Gross said his volunteers travel more than 760,000 miles annually to make their daily deliveries and are reimbursed at 36 cents a mile if they request it.

“The rising cost of gasoline is affecting our volunteers,” he said. “In some areas, volunteers who had not previously asked for reimbursement have begun to do so. In other areas, volunteers have restricted the number of days they drive to keep within limited budgets.”

In response to a question from Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington, Gross said different divisions of the state’s agencies on aging employ different reimbursement standards to attract and retain volunteers.

“Several [agencies] are reporting that paid staff are increasingly required to deliver meals because volunteers cannot be found, resulting in increased costs for staff travel,” he said. “In some areas, volunteers only visit once or twice a week to deliver hot meals, leaving frozen meals to be reheated for the other days.”

Mills said she understood the need for the increased funds but demanded assurances that any money approved by the Legislature would be used only for transportation costs and not administrative expenses.

“I share concerns that every penny that’s appropriated for this would go directly to volunteers,” she said.

“I can absolutely guarantee that it will not go to administrative services and that the money will be used for reimbursement of volunteer travel,” Gross said.