Meals On Wheels: Providing Nourishment to Seniors since 1954

Children aren’t the only ones prone to malnutrition. Many senior citizens, especially those who are not able to leave the house, find themselves unable to prepare or buy nutritious food for themselves. Some are lucky enough to have caring friends and family members that can help them, but for others who live alone, malnutrition is a sad reality.

Founded in 1954, Meals on Wheels aims to change that. The initiative to deliver food to homebound seniors began as a small scale operation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This initiative led to the creation of similar programs in different parts of the United States. By 1972, these Senior Nutrition Programs (SNPs) received recognition from the government by including it in the Older Americans Act through which these programs will receive funding.

20 years after the first Meals on Wheels program was launched, the various SNPs came together in Washington D.C. and established The National Organization of Home Delivered and Congregate Meal Programs. The SNP network went through a couple of name changes. They changed their name to the much simpler National Association of Meal Programs in 1976. In 1998, the organization changed its name again, borrowing the more popular Meals on Wheels label, and since then they have been known as the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA).

In recent years, the MOWAA has embarked on several new initiatives, including an annual public awareness campaign called March for Meals which aims to spread awareness about the organization, get more funding, and recruit more volunteers for the cause. Aside from food, the MOWAA also wants to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the seniors they provide services for during times of emergency. This is why they have developed their own Disaster Preparedness guidelines to make sure that disasters and emergencies won’t disrupt their operations and that the seniors get the help they need during these times.