Reginald Smith wakes up every morning and can’t wait to get to work.

Driving the Edmundite Missions’ Meals of Hope truck, Smith delivers 200 to 300 meals a day to those in need or seniors who are homebound.

“I just love waking up every morning to do this,” Smith said. “I just love seeing the faces when I pull up. Doing my job is very important to me.”

Smith’s route usually stretches to areas on L.L. Anderson Avenue, Tremont Street and Old Orrville Road.

A year and a half of driving has allowed Smith to establish relationships with people he encounters every day. During some of his stops, he even gets out to hug children and catch up with friends he has made along the route.

Willie Mae Martin said she considers Smith a grandson. She said she doesn’t know what she would do without the meals the mission provides.

“I’m a diabetic,” she said. “It’s helped me a lot. I don’t have to figure out things. When you’re a diabetic you have to eat a certain way. It kind of makes my day because sometimes I’ve been low in spirit, but the help I get boosts my spirit. It keeps me in a great mood.”

The meals are prepared and packaged at the mission by volunteers and employees.

Director of nutrition Bradford Perry said the mission doesn’t just ship meals to the needy. The mission also opens its doors for people to come in and have a meal, through the Bosco Soup Kitchen. The kitchen is open seven days a week, and dinner is only served on Sunday.

“We’re more than happy to be here to help the community,” he said. “We serve about 800 meals a day. The people who come here are very poor. They don’t have jobs, or they have no income coming in. We also serve the underemployed. We do what we can with what we have to bless the people of Selma.”

For more information or to seek services, call 872-8189.