Community News

AdventHealth helps council trim Meals on Wheels wait list

AdventHealth volunteers added Meals on Wheels routes and helped trim the Council on Aging waiting list by a third.

By Lightning Reports, Published: May 8, 2020

What began as a series of conversations exploring creative solutions to better serve homebound older adults became reality when the first official meals from AdventHealth were delivered to several Meals on Wheels clients this week.

With meal production nearly at capacity at Pardee Hospital, the Council on Aging sought a secondary provider to help supplement and increase meal capacity while maintaining local relationships.

“Our waiting list for Meals on Wheels has grown to over 100 people," Council on Aging executive director Keith Logan said. "This partnership with AdventHealth allows us to grow in the short term without Pardee having to make costly capital investments in their kitchen. We are excited to be able to work with both of our local hospitals to provide meals for homebound older adults in our community.”

Thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County to offset startup costs, the dream has become a reality.

AdventHealth has currently adopted four Meals on Wheels routes, with the plan of growing that number over time. In turn, the Meals on Wheels program has increased capacity by launching three brand new routes, cutting the wait list by nearly a third. The Council on Aging has set a goal of eliminating the wait list by June 2021.

“Preparing healthy and nourishing food for people in our older populations is very dear to my heart because I spent nearly 10 years working in long term care facilities," said Mary Hackney, director of nutritional services at AdventHealth. "Now, as part of the AdventHealth team with its commitment to whole-person care, the entire Nutritional Services team is excited to partner with the Council on Aging for Henderson County to support and expand its Meals on Wheels program. We really appreciate the Community Foundation of Henderson County for the grant that is making this possible.”

Meals on Wheels currently delivers to more than 350 clients with 31 delivery routes. The waiting list continues to grow and currently sits at just over 70 people. To meet this growing need in the community, more volunteers will be needed. To volunteer visit https://coahc.org/volunteers/ or call 828-692-4203.