Serving More Than a Meal Since 1972

The Coal Creek Meals on Wheels nonprofit has changed dramatically since a group of dedicated volunteers and an idealistic board of directors launched the group in 1972. Not only has the area that the organization serves grown and transformed, but the needs of its recipients have shifted and evolved. The broad community in a swath of northern Colorado that includes Lafayette, Louisville, Superior and Erie has changed since the early 1970s, and so have their needs when it comes to sustenance, outreach and basic services. No one knows about those changes better than Lark Rambo, who signed on as Executive Director of the Coal Creek Meals on Wheels program in August of 2019. Rambo led the CCMOW nonprofit through a historic set of circumstances, a global pandemic that shifted the metrics of the organization’s mission. Many in the community had long depended on the nonprofit for daily, nutritious meals and other support services, but COVID-19 suddenly increased the need for those services exponentially. Rambo and her dedicated staff met those needs. “We had to change everything, but honestly, a lot of those changes were for the better. Hopefully, they’ll stick around,” Rambo said. “It’s been so rewarding, and such a desperately needed service for so many in these challenging times.” Some of those changes had to do with staying true to the mission that’s clear in the organization’s namesake: feeding those who need basic, nutritious sustenance. Another part of the operation, however, boils down to a more profound kind of support, one that allows seniors and those with limited faculties to stay in their homes. In their work across the community, CCMOW volunteers and staff stay true to this mission, whether it’s through door-to-door visits or at their on-site program called the Coal Creek Café. During regular hours Monday to Friday, seniors have the opportunity to dine at the nonprofit’s home base in Lafayette, a service that provides food as well as social interaction. Both of these approaches are critical to the nonprofit’s mission, one that stayed clear during the worst of the pandemic, just as it has for 50 years.