Meals on Wheels, which provides hot, nutritious meals to adults 60 and older and homebound residents, can no longer keep up with the requests for service.
Meals on Wheels Executive Director for Summit, Wasatch and Utah counties Jimmy Golding said the service not only delivers food, but also essential human connection.
“We have more home-bound senior citizens who are looking for that nutrition, but also for that connection,” Golding said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Monday. We have these volunteers who go out and deliver meals to these people's homes, and they get that opportunity every week to go in and build that connection with them. And that's really important, because it provides them not only that opportunity to be connected to the community and receive that nutritious meal, but also because they get the chance to see somebody and say, ‘hello.’”
Board member and Summit County resident Claudia McMullin said the organization is facing a $900,000 funding gap — a shortfall driven by rising food and fuel costs as well as federal funding cuts.
“What causes it is the aging population is growing in all three counties, for sure, ” McMullin explained. “There's now more pressure because of the cuts to the SNAP benefits. We expect our wait list to grow and grow as a result of this food need and food insecurity that people now have.”
Golding also told KPCW Meals on Wheels could provide services to everyone on its waiting list if the funding can be raised to buoy its 2025-2026 budget.
To qualify for the program, participants must be 60 years old and live in Summit or Wasatch County. Those who are homebound can receive meal deliveries up to five days a week, while others can get hot meals at one of the four local senior centers in the two counties.
Last year, Meals on Wheels provided more than 118,000 meals in Summit, Utah and Wasatch counties. In Summit and Wasatch counties alone, the program serves as many as 150 meals a day with even higher numbers in Utah County.
Board member Eileen Mullane said the organization is committed to ensuring no one goes hungry.
“There are people that have been on that wait list for months, so we just have to do our job and raise some money, because nobody should be isolated and hungry,” Mullane said. And McMullin added, “if we don't fill the gap then people are going to go hungry.”
In addition to donations, Meals on Wheels is seeking volunteers to help prepare and deliver more meals. Click here for more information or to donate to Meals on Wheels.
