We’re all familiar with Meals on Wheels right? It’s a service many communities have, where volunteers bring hot meals to people who are unable to leave their homes due to mental or physical challenges. Family Service of Champaign County provides this for residents of Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy. Participants pay around $7-8 for a hot noon meal, and around $10-11 if they would also like a “supper sack” consisting of a sandwich, soup, and cookie or fruit that they can have later in the day.
Hendrick House, a U of I private certified residence hall that has become known for it’s exceptional dining — they cater, host farm-to-table style dinners, have a rooftop garden, and have expanded into the community as Betsy’s Bistro — has been preparing all of the meals for Meals on Wheels (almost) 365 days a year, save a few holidays, for two years.
According to Hendrick House Food Services Director Diane McNattin, the HH chef works with the Meals on Wheels coordinator to prepare menus each week, then the kitchen staff prepares meals for 55-65 folks every single day, even taking into consideration the varied dietary needs of the recipients. Here’s a menu example:
They also package everything individually in hot and cold bags for the route volunteers to pick up at about 10:30 each morning. Then recipients receive homemade food hand delivered by community members just want to help others.
Just a bit of a warm fuzzy to start off your weekend.
