Meals On Wheels

Our Program on December 2nd was a presentation about “Meals on Wheels”, made by Tom Lindquist and Aaron Osgood.

           The program started in the area in 1972 and was initially named “Dinner at Your Door”.  Al

l of the west suburbs were served by one program initially, but the area has now been broken down into 3 areas, and there are about 100 meals served each day. Of those, the local unit serves 26 meals each day. The meals are currently prepared for the Meals Program by Augustana Homes.

            Meals on Wheels is currently regrouping because they have been losing clients. There are three reasons for this: there are competitors from private firms, many clients have no money to pay, and food quality has been spotty. They changed food vendors recently, and have solved the food quality problems. In the Twin Cities area, there are 35 separate programs operating under the name Meals on Wheels, and those firms are using 21 different caterers to provide food.

            Tom gave us a food menu for the month of December which showed a wide range of selections for the month.