Meals on Wheels of Durham, Inc. is a non-profit agency committed to enhancing the quality of life for eligible homebound adults in our community. Our mission is to serve the elderly, frail, disabled, convalescing and others who cannot provide proper nutrition for themselves. Dedicated volunteers deliver lunches to our clients each weekday, with the objective of improving the nutritional status and health of these individuals. It is our goal that this combination of nutritious meals and social contact will help our clients to remain independent as long as possible.

Meals on Wheels of Durham depends on its dedicated staff and volunteers like Mr. and Mrs. Wintermute, pictured above. Find out how you can support Meals on Wheels of Durham by making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or becoming a volunteer.

In 1969, the Center City Church Council (subsequently renamed Durham Congregations in Action) commissioned various studies in an effort to learn how they could best help meet the needs of the local community. These indicated that a program to provide meals for those who were unable to meet their own nutritional requirements was sorely needed, and Meals on Wheels of Durham was founded in 1975 as a direct result.

The first volunteers served about a dozen elderly, disabled, blind, convalescing, or undernourished clients who were essentially homebound and living alone. In the intervening years, Meals on Wheels of Durham has experienced tremendous growth; today, the program serves more than 325 Durham County residents each weekday—over 84,000 meals in 2007 alone! Since its inception, Meals on Wheels of Durham has served more than one and a half million meals to local residents.

For more background on the origins of the broader Meals on Wheels movement, please click here.

Meals on Wheels originated in London, England during World War II. The British Red Cross Society and the Women's Voluntary Service served meals to elderly persons whose homes had been destroyed during the blitz. The London branch of Meals on Wheels, financed by the British Government, now serves over a million hot meals each year.

Similar programs exist in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, India, Israel, Canada, Barbados, and throughout the British Isles.

In 1954, a Pennsylvania woman heard about the Meals on Wheels project from a British exchange student. Following this introduction to the United States, hundreds of Meals on Wheels programs have arisen representing every region of the country.