NATCHEZ — Natchez has its share of people who, at their most vulnerable, can’t leave their homes even to seek a warm meal.

But for 57 households, the hope of that warm meal has a name and a face — Al Thompson.

Thompson, 71, is one of the four meals-on-wheels drivers for the Natchez Senior Center. He has been for the last four years, and Thompson said when he started the three-hour delivery route, it was more or less something he signed up for to stay busy in his retirement.

“My pastor told me about it, told me they were needing drivers to deliver meals,” Thompson said. “It was something to do to pass some time, and it was a chance to help others, so I went and signed up.”

Since then, he’s been meeting a truck at the Senior Citizens’ Center every Thursday morning, loading the bed of his own truck with food, covering the pre-packaged meals with a thermal tarp and taking them to the elderly or medically shut-in. The meals, which have three food items including a vegetable, can be microwaved or heated up in an oven.

It didn’t take Thompson long to realize he was engaged in more than just dropping off food. He was a friendly face to those who might not otherwise encounter many people over the course of their week.

“Some of them I walk up, knock and say, ‘It’s Meals on Wheels,’ they come to the door and take the food, and that’s it, but some of them like to talk, so I will share a few minutes with them,” he said.

“A lot of times, some of them are by themselves and the only people they see are their aides or the people who come in to help them.”

When he began delivering the meals, he dropped off food to 30 clients. His route has nearly doubled since he started, but he said that’s never bothered him.

Thompson said the half-day he spends every week with the meals-on-wheels program has done more than just achieve his goal of passing the time.

“It gives me a satisfaction to know I am doing something in the community helping people in need,” he said. “I am the type of person who, if I can help, I will.”