Walla Walla, WA—Meals on Wheels, the program offering home-delivered meals, is now being provided in Walla Walla and College Place through a partnership with Thomas Cuisine – the company that operates the Providence St. Mary Medical Center Café.
Meals on Wheels is a national program run by volunteers. The program most recently operated through a partnership with Walla Walla General Hospital. After that facility closed, Thomas Cuisine stepped forward and informally provided meals for many months to ensure they kept flowing. Recently it signed a contract to formalize the arrangement.
“This is a very valuable service to seniors, shut-ins and others who may not get nutritious meals otherwise,” said Norman Shaw, executive chef at Providence St. Mary Medical Center. “We are glad we are able to fill this need.”
People can subscribe to have hot, nutritious meals delivered Monday, Wednesday and Friday for $5 per meal. The subscriber can choose from vegetarian, vegan or non-vegetarian meals. There is no set menu, since the food comes from the Providence St. Mary café, where the menu is different every day. Subscribers can request to have more than one meal delivered so they have one for now, and one for later.
“The quality and variety has been great,” said Nancy Sharon, local Meals on Wheels president. “There has been such a huge assortment of meals.”
Unlike the Senior Round Table home-delivered meals program run through the Walla Walla Senior Citizen Center, the volunteer Meals on Wheels program is not governmentally supported, and doesn’t have a specific age restriction, Sharon explains. It is for anyone living in Walla Walla or College Place who because of age, disability or other limiting factors cannot prepare meals for themselves. The money collected covers the cost of food and other program expenses.
Meals on Wheels has been operated by a dedicated group of volunteers in the Walla Walla Valley for more than 40 years, Sharon says.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time,” she said. “It is quite a process, but we are happy to do it.”
For more information or to subscribe, call Nancy Sharon at 541-938-5481 or email Norman Shaw.
Media Contact:
For more information and interview requests, contact:
- Providence St. Mary Medical Center
Kathleen Obenland
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509-897-2295
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