> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.richmonder.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # At 85, Franck Boynton has delivered meals to Richmond’s neediest for almost two decades - URL: https://www.richmonder.org/at-85-franck-boynton-has-delivered-meals-to-richmonds-neediest-for-almost-two-decades/ - Published: 2026-09-06T17:16:07.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-06T17:16:07.000Z - Description: The white van he uses to make deliveries has logged over 400,000 miles and counting. - Author: Graham Moomaw - Tags: The Richmonder 25, #the-bridge [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/04/richmonder-25-header.jpg)](https://www.richmonder.org/the-richmonder-25-meet-the-2026-honorees/) **New profiles will be posted each Monday, Wednesday and Friday in* [**The Richmonder's newsletter*](https://www.richmonder.org/sign-up-for-the-richmonders-free-newsletter/)**. Meet all the honorees* [**here*](https://www.richmonder.org/the-richmonder-25-meet-the-2026-honorees/)**.* The longer he works as a Meals on Wheels volunteer, the more Franck Boynton ends up delivering food to people younger than he is. Now 85 years old, Boynton said he intends to keep doing the meal drop-offs as long as he can. And there’s not much slowing him down yet. When he was doing a delivery a few years back in a high-rise building with a broken elevator, he climbed nine stories — three flights at a time with rest in between — to get food to a blind man who needed it. A Chesterfield County resident, Boynton got involved with Meals on Wheels 18 years ago after retiring from a career selling high-voltage electrical equipment. The white van he uses to make deliveries across the Richmond region has logged over 400,000 miles and counting. “It’s important work,” Boynton explained. “So I said I’ll just stick with it.” To Boynton, the work is about more than just making sure elderly or infirm people who can’t cook for themselves don’t go hungry. “If they don’t have people delivering meals, then they can’t stay in the house,” he said. “The other thing is we check on them. When we show up and somebody doesn’t come to the door, we immediately start calling.” Boynton’s wife, Mary, said her husband has always been “a giver.” “You’re giving people self-respect, that they can stand on their own two feet,” she said. “And that’s the thing that’s important.” It’s rare for Boynton to stumble across a medical emergency, but it has happened. At an apartment complex in Northside, Boynton found a recipient who had fallen and couldn’t reach an alert button to call someone. The man had been on the floor for hours, and Boynton stayed until help arrived. Since 1967, the Richmond region’s Meals on Wheels program has been operated by Feed More, a nonprofit that works to combat food insecurity across a wide swathe of Central Virginia. To qualify, recipients must be at least 60 years old, homebound and have no other reliable way to get meals on a daily basis. More than 600 seniors receive meals each week, according to the organization. Boynton has volunteered for a total of 3,972 hours, according to Feed More, and did 110 delivery routes last year. “He’s always willing to help wherever he’s needed, and he never hesitates to step in and make sure our Meals on Wheels delivery routes are covered,” said Feed More Client Services Navigator Monica Coleman, who has known Boynton for 15 years. “That same flexibility and positive attitude carry over to the way he interacts with the neighbors we serve. Franck understands that everyone may be facing different challenges, and he treats each person with patience and respect.” Boynton tries to do Meals on Wheels routes three days a week. It takes him about two hours to deliver meals to eight to 10 people per trip. Mary Boynton said she enjoys hearing the stories her husband has accumulated from so much time on the road and so many interactions around Richmond. Once, Boynton was delivering food with a partner, Harry, who was wearing a suit and also delivering a bouquet of flowers donated by a local florist. A sharp-witted man came to the door, looked at the pair, then yelled back into the house. "He says, 'Mabel come here. You’re not going to believe this. We just won the Publishers Clearing House,'" Boynton recalled the man saying, referring to the famous sweepstakes and its televised prize patrol. "It didn’t dawn on me until I looked at Harry. That’s exactly that it looked like." 🥳 Join us for an event celebrating the honorees on Friday, Sept. 25\. [****Learn more here**](https://www.richmonder.org/the-richmonder-25-event-and-ticket-info/) – Richmonder donors can save $30 on their ticket! Other stories were more eye-opening than amusing. There was also the time a group of young men in Gilpin Court — the public housing complex many outsiders avoid because it’s perceived as unsafe — helped push his van when it got stuck. Boynton said he distinctly remembers making a delivery to a woman who was over 100 years old. She told him she couldn’t drive anymore, but felt fortunate to have someone else willing to give her rides to visit her son in a nursing home. “Can you imagine that?” he said. “I’ll never forget that.” When asked how long he plans to keep doing Meals on Wheels, Boynton’s answer was simple. “Until I can’t do it anymore,” he said. *Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at* [*gmoomaw@richmonder.org*](mailto:gmoomaw@richmonder.org) --- ### Series sponsor: [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/04/Richmonder-Ad-Imagery.jpg)](https://www.work4estes.com/) Proud to call Richmond home, Estes is driven by people who go the extra mile — every day, for every customer. As the nation’s largest privately held freight carrier and a Richmond Top Workplace, we’re always looking for great people to join our team. [Explore careers at Estes](https://www.work4estes.com/)