Lack of funds stifle Meals on Wheels

MEALS on Wheels, an organisation dedicated to providing meals to the elderly and poor, is in dire need of financial assistance.

The organisation was established in July 1964 by the Seventh Day Adventist Church with an East London branch being the first to operate in the country.

This isn’t the first time the organisation has faced financial trouble (“Financial uphill for Meals on Wheels” GO! & Express, February 8, 2018). Meals on Wheels manager Jeni Campbell said that the centre cooks and delivers meals to close to 1000 people a week, and has 32 active soup kitchens.

“We provide cooked meals, soup, clothing and whatever else that we can. We have a community centre for the senior citizens where they participate in various activities to keep them healthy. We also deliver meals door-to-door in the surrounding suburbs of East London. “Meal deliveries are done on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.”

“What a lot of people don’t know is that we have a Service Centre at 19 Smartt Road, Nahoon. On Monday, we offer woodcarving classes and on Tuesdays we have trim gym, tea, bingo and a three-course meal for lunch. We also have a library available to our members,” Campbell said.

“Unfortunately a number of our members have either moved or passed away, and we find our numbers have dwindled to just a handful.”

“It is such a pity that this has happened because there must be lots of elderly lonely people in East London who would love to get out instead of staying at home all the time.”

Fund-raising is done through hosted events, with a charity shop on the premises. The charity also accepts any donations that can be sold in order to generate some funds for the feeding scheme.

“We also ask if the readers would kindly help us with 2 litre ice cream containers again and plastic packets for our charity shop,” said Campbell.

For more information on how to donate to Meals on Wheels, contact them on (043)735-2166.