SOMEMEALS ON WHEELS HISTORY AND FACTS
WhittierMeals on Wheels is a non-profit, volunteer community serviceproviding meals for shut-ins, elderly, or anyone unable to preparemeals for him/her self, delivered to their homes five days a week.
WhittierMeals on Wheels began in 1971, in response to a need. Actually, itstarted in response to the burning of Mifflins Market, the lastmarket in town to deliver groceries. This left many elderly andshut-ins without a source of food and in real need. Frantic calls toNurse Margaret Merkel, prompted her to do something about thissituation. With a group of other ladies she got to work. One of theladies had just written a paper in school on how to organize a Mealson Wheels program. They put all her work to good use, and theprogram was born.
WhittierMeals on Wheels is not connected with Meals on Wheels in other areas,and is not subsidized by the state, county or city, as many othersare. We depend entirely on private and organizational donations. The cities we serve – Pico Rivera and Santa Fe Springs as wellas Whittier, have been very supportive, but this support has noguaranteed amount, and we need to look elsewhere.
Annualsolicitation letters are sent to service clubs, businesses and otherorganizations, as well as physicians and individuals who havecontributed. (All contributions remain in the community.)
Manyof our clients can well afford the $5.50 per day that the hospitalcharges us. Those who cannot are subsidized, partially or totally,and this is where the generosity of our contributors comes in. Thenumber of clients we are able to help in this way depends entirely ondonations.
Ourvolunteers go in teams, a driver and an assistant, and we currentlyhave nearly 200 volunteers. Some deliver once a week, some once amonth or whenever needed. A cold lunch and hot supper are deliveredto about 120 clients on 10 routes, five days a week. This comes toabout 35 volunteer hours per day, or 11,000/year! These volunteersalso put about 47,000 collective miles on their cars per year, plusgasoline, of course.
Weare grateful to our local hospitals for their help in this wonderfulservice. They do not have to do this, and they certainly don’tmake money on it, but do it entirely as a community service. Thepeople in the kitchen are always extremely pleasant and helpful toour volunteers, and make the experience worthwhile for all of us.
AgencyMission Statement
Oursole purpose, since its inception in July of 1971, has been and is,making available, healthy meals to persons having need of thisservice. The meals are prepared under the direction of a dieticianat Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. Clients pay about the sameamount charged us by the hospital. Our volunteers deliver the meals,consisting of a hot and a cold meal, plus milk or juice and adessert, Monday through Friday by noon. We use a nutritious andvaried menu. The meals are low sodium and low sugar, and specialdiets such as renal, are available. An additional valuable benefitof our service is a short visit by our volunteers with the clients. In some instances, our volunteers are the only people the clients seeduring the day. We help celebrate birthdays with cards and sometimessmall, donated gifts. Occasionally, it has been necessary to callparamedics or relatives to take care of problems. Also, many of ourvolunteers have run errands for clients, who otherwise could not havethem done.
