Founded in 1968 by the Ottawa City Union of The International Order of The King’s Daughters and Sons, we have grown from our grass roots beginnings where during the first week of operation 29 meals were served to 15 people. In 2015 over 122,000 meals where served to over 1600 clients will the help of more than 500 volunteers.
We are the largest Meals on Wheels program in the Champlain region and are a dedicated group of staff, board, delivery and office volunteers with a well established reputation. We are leaders in the Community support Sector and have collaborative relationship with 8 kitchens across the city who provide the meals for our program and well as 2 providers of frozen meals. We also partner with The Going Home Program and the Aging in Place program. Our newest partnership is with the Olde Forge Community Resource Centre who has provided us with space for our new depot system for delivery of meals in the west end of our catchment area.
Our service is available to all seniors 60+ and adults with disabilities in our catchment area; a medical referral is not required. We work hard though our fundraising efforts to keep the cost of the meal as low as possible for the client and our service allows people to live independently and with dignity in their own homes. Meals on Wheels clients include:
While providing nutritious food is an important part of our service, the daily visit from volunteers is equally important to clients. For many, the volunteer visit is the only contact they receive during the day. For families and friends of clients, they are reassured that a trained volunteer is checking in. It really is “more than just a meal”.
The first delivery of frozen meals was made on April 25th, 1991.