Meals on Wheels is a volunteer-driven organization founded 40 years ago based on the service ideal of “neighbor helping neighbor.” More than 2,500 volunteers help execute the organization’s mission to provide balanced, nutritious, and appealing meals to seniors, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged populations. We strive to improve the physical and mental health of those served by providing, either directly or through cooperation with other community service organizations, a range of services that improve quality of life. Meals are delivered Monday through Friday, between 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Meals on Wheels serves the City of Richmond, and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan. On June 1, 2005, Meals on Wheels proudly celebrated its expansion to the Tri-Cities and is now providing daily meals to the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg. More than 1,000 meals are served each day to about 800 clients. This year about 265,000 meals will be delivered to more than 1,500 clients by volunteers to our elderly and disabled neighbors throughout Richmond and Central Virginia.
We strive to decrease malnutrition by providing low-cost, nutritionally sound meals. We work to be a role model and provide best practices for other Meals on Wheels programs throughout the country and we seek opportunities to collaborate with community partners to improve the quality of services to our disabled and elderly population. While one of our goals is to operate without a waiting list, we do triage those who are waiting for meals to ensure that the most urgent needs are addressed immediately.
Meals on Wheels is the only home-delivered meal service of its kind in the community. Many current meal recipients have no family in the area and for many, the volunteer bringing their meals each day is the only person checking on them. Often our volunteers develop strong relationships with the clients we serve and provide valuable feedback concerning their well-being and overall condition.