Message from President

President of Meals on Wheels
Anne Aitchison

Dear Friends of Meals on Wheels of Durham:

Meals on Wheels of Durham is delighted to be operating out of our newly renovated facility on Ross Rd in east Durham.  It has been an amazing journey, from searching for a new base when we outgrew our offices at the Senior Center, to finding a place to buy, to getting it completely ready for the most efficient operations.  Now we have plenty of room to grow, and with 200 people waiting for us if we had the funds and volunteers, that is excellent.

If you have visited us, you may wonder why we are the only business in what is really a residential street.  Our facility once was a home business–a cabinet-making shop.  When the owner retired, he put the building on the market just at the time we were searching.  Because the building was 70 years old, we needed to make many renovations, and we were fortunate to work with a local architect – Center Studio Architecture – who recognized what our needs were, and both met and exceeded them.

Meals on Wheels serves homebound people of all ages in Durham  Funding comes from many sources, including the Durham County Dept. of Social Services, Medicaid, churches, grants from foundations as well as tax deductible gifts from individuals. It costs about $1,300 a year  to feed one person five days a week.

We’d love to have you sponsor a client for one year–either by donating $1,300 or by volunteering to deliver once a week to that person.  We deliver 25 routes a day in Durham city and county, five days a week.  Some volunteers choose a day and come each week, while others select a schedule that works best for them–we let you choose.  Food is ready to be picked up by 10 AM and needs to be delivered by noon.  Routes are designed to take about 1 1/2 hours, door to door from our base.  Staff provides you with excellent driving directions and special instructions like “doorbell does not work–call loudly and knock”, or “use side door”.

I have been a happy MOW volunteer since 1996 and find my life enriched by doing this work.  I hope you will join me.

Yours sincerely,

Anne Aitchison, President of the Board
Meals on Wheels of Durham