Sponsor a meal for an elderly person

MEALS on Wheels is a humanitarian initiative that strives to bring relief to the country’s less fortunate and aged by preparing and delivering nutritious meals to their homes. It is now calling for the support of the public.

Meals on Wheels Community Services is registered with the government as a not-for-profit organisation. It prepares and delivers more than 23 million meals annually to the poorest of the poor, and its members are determined to beat hunger in our country. It has 280 service points countrywide.

The Meals on Wheels branch was established in East London in 1964, with the purpose of providing meals to the elderly in the community. The programme has evolved into a national programme targeting the poor and vulnerable in South Africa.

In February 2012, Meals on Wheels added the Caregiver Initiative to its basket of community services. Meals on Wheels caregivers are placed in needy institutions and communities and compile a case analysis on the people living in the institution and the community. Once the case studies are complete, Meals on Wheels adopts the most desperate cases and then those people/families are taken care of by the Meals on Wheels Care-giving team.

The long-term plan for the Care-giving Project is to a roll out caregivers who will work closely with the 280 service points around the country. The needy person or family will not only receive a cooked meal, but will also have the benefit of the services of a caregiver.

Currently many branches are making use of the care-giving concept by making use of volunteers for this purpose. There are nine official caregivers working with extremely needy cases and this is a unique project with the roots of the Meals on Wheels Caregiving Initiative planted in the South of Johannesburg.

The Meals on Wheels caregivers provide love, support and care to their beneficiaries. Services include transport to the hospitals, pension collections, economical-cooking lessons, social enrichment activities and outings for both the elderly and the children, home cleaning, laundry services, counselling and more specialised care for the frail and sickly.

To sponsor a meal is only R15 and people may sponsor as many meals as their budget allows. There are no debit order facilities for monthly donations or once-off facilities.

For more information, and to better appreciate why Meals on Wheels needs support, visit www.mow.org.za and watch the short video “Miracle of Mercy”. Text the word MEAL to 39055 and Meals on Wheels will do the rest. Your SMS will be billed at just R15.00. You can also call their share-call line on 0860 000 700.

Courtesy of Meals on Wheels Community Service.