Citymeals On Wheels NYC Serves Up Meals and Friendship

Citymeals-on-Wheels New York City is working hard to achieve their high goal of ensuring that no elder person goes a single day without a meal. However, you would be mistaken if you believe they are only a meal service company. Friendship is the service they perform that has the most impact.

Feeding Stomachs and Nourishing Souls

Citymeals-on-Wheels NYC has provided over 50 million meals to senior residents since 1981. In 2013, ten percent of the senior population in the United States lived in poverty, but those figures are greater in New York City. Can you image your mother or father dealing with food insecurity on a daily basis? The elderly population in all five boroughs of New York City gets fed on a daily basis thanks to Citymeals on Wheels.

New York City’s elderly population is distributed among the five boroughs as follows:

• Bronx: 14.4%
• Brooklyn: 30.2%
• Manhattan: 20.0%
• Queens: 29.9%
• Staten Island: 5.5%

While delivering meals appears to be a beautiful and noble undertaking, Citymeals on Wheels goes above and above. The volunteers form lasting friendships with the seniors they assist, enriching everyone’s lives. With the growing senior population, Citymeals-on-Wheels has joined with the New York City Department of Aging to offer 900 more meals to the delivery routes.

Most meal recipients are isolated and lonely:

• 73% live alone
• 40% rarely or never leave their homes
• 8% have no one to talk to

Who Does Citymeals on Wheels NYC Actually Help?

Agustin, who was born in 1913, enjoys the Citymeals-on-Wheels visits but says that, while he still speaks to his daughter frequently, the meal deliveries are the only meaningful visits he gets on a regular basis.

Terry, a feisty eighty-one year old resident of the Bronx is disabled and when her husband passed away, she refused to stop living. Terry was paired up with her meal delivery friend, Anne, over five years ago and they have developed a long and meaningful friendship that extends well beyond the delivery of meals.

Beatrice is a ninety-three year old Bronx resident who has lived in the same apartment for fifty years. She struggles with her eyesight and has been receiving meals for three years. She has always thought of herself as a picky eater but she eats every bite of her tasty meals. She loves the banter she enjoys with her meal deliverer, which typically centers around current affairs and church.

Click here to read more recipient stories.

Let’s Talk Numbers

Most charitable organizations have noble aims; yet, the effectiveness of a charity must also take into account the organization’s financial responsibility. Citymeals-on-Wheels NYC is reliant on donations to stay afloat, and they guarantee that 100% of all donations go directly into the preparation and delivery of meals. The group covers all administrative costs through other sources of money and devotes every penny of public donations to the actual meals.

Get Involved With City Meals!

If you think City Meals On Wheels’ mission is great and you’d like to lend a hand, there are plenty of volunteer opportunities. From helping with deliveries to elderly persons to forming part of one of their exiting events, there is plenty of ways to get involved with City Meals.

Remember that any time devoted to this wondrous charity is highly appreciated, so don’t feel like you don’t have enough time to participate and push forward the movement. Helping out once a month or once a quarter is fine. In fact, it’s likely that you’ll pass on other obligations to devote your time to the City Meals program once you see how fulfilling it is!