Meals on Wheels America receives 89% spike in meal requests

Meals on Wheels America has reported an 89% increase for meal requests from the first week of March to the first week of April among its programs across the country, with 79% of the programs stating new requests for meals had at least doubled.

The nonprofit has also reported its programs are serving 56% more meals and 22% more seniors per week, while the waiting lists for meals increased by 26%. The organization launched its COVID-19 Response Fund on March 16 and has distributed nearly $7 million to more than 450 local providers on the frontlines of the crisis nationwide.

Regionally, the Rockland County-based Meals on Wheels program was praised by the national organization for obtaining a freezer semitrailer to store prepared meals that enabled it to begin delivering multiple meals at a time, which enabled an expansion of operations from 8,000 meals served in March to more than 20,000 in April.

“There is no debate that older Americans have borne the brunt of this pandemic, and if we only examine infection, hospitalization and death rates, we vastly underestimate the true impact,” said Ellie Hollander, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels America. “This survey data offers critical insights into the level of support necessary now and beyond the pandemic, to ensure we meet the needs of our most vulnerable populations.”

The survey was conducted between April 22-28 among Meals on Wheels America’s membership, which is representative of the national senior nutrition provider network of more than 5,000 community-based programs.