The $250 the Union Rotary Club donated to Meals on Wheels will enable the organization to purchase more than 80 of the as many as 120 meals it delivers each day Monday-Friday to the shut-ins of Union.
Lynn Mornane, chair of the board of directors for Meals on Wheels, was presented the donation by Rotary Club President Frank Hart during the club’s June 12 meeting at Covenant Baptist Church. Though a Rotarian herself, Mornane said she had no idea the club was going to make a donation to Meals on Wheels when she arrived for the meeting.
“That was wonderful,” Mornane said Wednesday. “I didn’t know it was going to happen. We’re very happy about it.”
Mornane said the $250 donated by Rotary will help Meals on Wheels purchase approximately 80 meals for delivery to the shut-ins the organization serves in Union.
“I want the club to know how many people their donation will help feed,” Mornane said. “We deliver 100-120 meals a day in Union. The meals are prepared for us by Wallace Thomson Hospital and Midway Barbecue and usually cost $3.07 per meal. The club donation is helping us feed approximately 80 people.”
Meals on Wheels has been delivering meals for those in need for more than 10 years and Mornane said the number of meals the organization’s volunteers deliver has grown over the years.
“In 2010, we delivered 25,225 meals,” Mornane said. “In 2011, we’ve delivered 27,316 meals. So there’s a very strong need for what we do.”
That need not only involves a meal, but also human contact.
“We supply one meal a day to people who are shut-ins, either temporarily or permanently, who cannot leave their home,” Mornane said. “For some of these people, the only contact they will have during the day is the two minutes our drivers spending delivering their meal and speaking to them. Some of the people we have on our delivery routes just look forward to the contact.”
To meet the needs of its clients, Mornane said the organization relies on private donations, charitable contributions, and fundraisers to pay for the food it delivers.
“We have an average of 60-75 drivers who deliver the 11 routes we have in Union,” Mornane said. “All our drivers are volunteers and they donate their time, their vehicles and gasoline to deliver these meals. Our only overhead is the cost of the meals we purchase from Wallace Thomson and Midway and they’ve both been very generous in what they’ve charged us for preparing those meals.
“Some people think we receive government support, but we don’t, we are funded by no one,” she said. “We rely on donations, fundraisers and charity events. We have occasional support from the American Red Cross Emergency Food and Shelter program, but that’s only if the program has any money left at the end of the year. If they do, it is divided between us and some other organizations, but the amount of money available varies from year to year. One year we received $7,000, but other years we’ve received nothing.”
Mornane said that while some clients pay the full cost of their meals and some part for part of it, most are unable to pay and that’s why donations like Rotary’s are so important. She pointed out that even a much smaller donation can have a big impact.
“It you donate $10, that’s three meals,” Mornane said. “That $10 goes a long way.”
Besides financial support, Meals on Wheels is always in need of drivers. Mornane said volunteers can determine how many times a week they drive. She said they don’ t have to drive every day, just when they are able to do.
For more information about making donation to Meals on Wheels call Lynn Mornane at 424-9042. To volunteer as a driver, call Trudy White at 427-4326. To receive meals, call Nancy Baarcke 427-0046.
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