Meals on Wheels has been around since the 1950s and has grown into one of the largest and most effective social movements in the country, helping nearly 2.2 million seniors every year.
Executive Director of the tri-county Meals on Wheels for Summit, Wasatch and Utah counties, Kris Nelson said until a couple of years ago, the program was being provided by MAG, the Mountainland Association of Governments. A nonprofit has since taken over in hopes of raising more money and grants, given the half million-dollar shortfall it’s facing.
“Which is why Michelle Carroll, who is the Executive Director of MAG [Mountainland Association of Governments] saw the writing on the wall two years ago, and said, ‘We're going to start running into trouble,’” Nelson said. “They did a study where our service area, Utah, Summit and Wasatch County, was going to grow by 44,000 seniors by 2030 which means we're going to take 25% of that as clients because that's what our average number is; 25% of seniors are food insecure.”
She said seniors are independent and don’t want to lose that freedom, which is sometimes the underlying issue.
“They're not necessarily telling their family they're in a dire situation,” she said. “They're not admitting to not having enough food or feeling insecure about food and just the nutrition of the food they're getting. I mean, everyone can eat something, but you really want nutrition.”
In addition to providing nutrition, Meals on Wheels volunteers also provide social interaction and safety checks.
“We recommend a five-to-10-minute visit,” she said. “We love it when they can step inside and just see some of these folks have pets and other things happening. And there's always something great to talk about, a new picture, a new grandkid, a new neighbor or something. But we want actual interaction. It's, you go in, you're looking for signs of maybe an injury, or you're smelling smells like natural gas or something like that. You’re checking for leaks or things like that while you're in there and giving them just a few minutes of your time.”
The organization receives funding from both state and federal sources. However, that funding has not kept up with the increasing need due to inflation and economic challenges.
Nelson said they’re looking for volunteers as well as financial sponsorships to meet the growing demand.
More information about how to sign up as a volunteer and make donations can be found here.
