Meals on Wheels is celebrating 60 years of community service and is throwing a special luncheon for the elderly to commemorate the occasion next month.
The organisation has been committed to assisting the vulnerable elderly, poor and disabled members of our community through various soup kitchen initiatives including preparing, cooking and delivering meals.
These soup kitchens are often taken to rural and disadvantaged areas, and are sometimes the only source of nutrition for those communities.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church started the organisation in 1964 when the need to give back to disadvantaged people became too great to ignore. The East London branch was the first to open its doors, with various branches opening throughout the country. The Eastern Cape alone boasts 36 branches.
Meals on Wheels East London service centre manager Jeni Campbell, says the organisation has managed to service the community throughout the years due to the support of those who donate time and resources.
“We have only been able to keep our doors open because of the kindness people have shown through their support in our effort to reach out to those who need it most. To make it another 60 years, we need more support. No donation is ever too small,” Campbell said.
The organisation worked tirelessly during the Covid-19 pandemic feeding homeless shelters who were in need of help. The Meals on Wheels team and their volunteers were preparing, cooking and delivering 500 meals three times a day. Between March and September 2023, at least 447,000 people in the Eastern Cape ran out of money to buy food.
This translates to more than one in four people in the province being food insecure.
The department of social development has invested in nutritional centres where people can access a hot meal and food gardens, but only 6,000 people benefitted from these initiatives between March and September which makes initiatives like Meals on Wheels vital.
“We would like to strengthen financially, so we will be able to reach out further into our community and help even more people, but we cannot do that without help,” Campbell said.
A special luncheon is being held for the elderly members and the public is welcome to donate money or food to the Meals on Wheels branch in Smartt Road, Nahoon.
