RALEIGH — Once a month, Susan Kane delivers lunch to about a dozen people who cannot get out to go grocery shopping or get up to make lunch for themselves. She is a 17-year volunteer with Meals on Wheels.

"It makes me feel like I'm doing something that's truly appreciated," she says.

Kane is among 2,000 Meals on Wheels volunteers in Wake County who serve meals to 900 people each day.

But another 200 homebound people are not being served because there are not enough volunteers to deliver the food.

"Everyone on our waiting list is on the waiting list because we don't have enough volunteers to cover certain areas," says Cathy Ulicny, a representative of Meals on Wheels.

The requirements to be a volunteer, Ulicny says, are simple.

"We say it takes a smile, about an hour a month and a car," she says. "That's all it takes.".

With those three requirements, people can deliver -- but they bear more than just a hot meal to someone in need.

"Oh, it means life," says Betty Powell, who is homebound. "I'm unable to go to the grocery store. And it's my link to the world outside. And I've made many friends."

Volunteers say Meals on Wheels recipients are not the only ones who benefit; volunteers get to enjoy those friendships, too.

If you can spare one lunch hour a month to help deliver hot meals in Wake County call(919) 833-1749.