MEALS ON WHEELS PEOPLE INC

Our goal is to provide nutritious meals to every senior who requests one without instituting a waiting list.

Unlike more than 70% of senior nutrition programs in this country, Meals on Wheels People has never had a waiting list for meals. We accomplish this through conservative fiscal management and aggressive community fundraising through direct mail solicitation, special events and donor cultivation.

Our organization was founded in 1970 by three women who served 14 Meals on Wheels served on paper plates and wrapped in foil. Today we prepare 5,000 meals each weekday. With a staff of 120, we rely on more than 450 volunteers each day to help fulfill our mission. The Meals on Wheels Program provides homebound elderly with daily visits from our volunteers, often the only contact these elders have with the outside world. Meals are served to anyone age 60 and older in Multnomah, Washington and Clark counties.

Meals on Wheels People recognizes the need to reach out to seniors to help them maintain their independence by remaining healthy and in their own homes. As baby boomers begin to reach the age of 60, the demand for services to promote healthy lifestyles for seniors is increasing dramatically. At the state and local level, fewer economic and social resources are available to support the traditional costs associated with the loss of independence, such as repeat hospitalizations for falls, home care, and permanent skilled or custodial care. We meet the immediate need for nutrition, which in the long term can save taxpayers money by preventing the need for medical intervention or long-term care. It costs about $2,500 to provide an entire year of meals to a senior; by contrast, it costs more than $60,000 to provide a year of nursing home care. No other organization in our service area provide daily hot meals to seniors and 84 cents of every dollar donated is used to provide meals.

Meals on Wheels People maintains a Board of Directors that numbers between 24 and 30 that meets monthly and has responsibility for the oversight of the Executive Director and the operating budget for the organization. The nominating committee of the board has developed a skills matrix in order to ensure that we have a diverse representation of expertise, backgrounds, ethnicities, gender and age. Some of the key skills that we seek are financial, auditing, health, food service, marketing, human resources, legal and technology. The most useful experience that allows our board members to contribute to the success of our organization is that of delivering Meals on Wheels. Most of our board members are regular Meals on Wheels drivers and by providing direct services they experience the very personal and basic needs of our clients. Decisions and planning are conducted with a clear understanding of the issues of those we serve, thus making organizational promotion and planning very grounded. All board members donate and most of them give at the $1,000 or above level annually. Each board member also serves on a subcommittee (Finance, Development, Marketing, etc.). Subcommittees generally meet four to six times a year.

We have managed to provide meals to every senior who requests them without instituting a waiting list for nearly 50 years. That is the ultimate goal of the organization overall. To accomplish that we have worked diligently to raise the funds needed to provide the meals and locate neighborhood centers where they are most needed in our community. We continue to assess our locations and work to update our menu. Our meals are appropriate for most dietary needs, including diabetic, low-sodium and low-cholesterol. We also have a vegetarian option for homebound clients. We recently opened The Diner Vancouver, a restaurant in Vancouver, Wash. that is open to the public daily 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those age 60 and older, who are enrolled in the Meals on Wheels People program, can order off a special pay-as-you-can-afford senior menu. The diner provides more choice for senior diners as well as a revenue stream for the organization.