From the Executive Director

It's said that the kitchen is at the heart of every home, but, at Meals on Wheels Yolo County it's also the heart of the workplace.  The seniors whom we nourish are an extension of family, and preparing ample, hot, healthy meals for them is how we show our love – especially at Valentine's Day!

This February is an especially heartfelt and exciting time at MOW Yolo, as we prepare to expand into additional kitchen space to better meet the nutritional needs of Yolo County's aging adults.  Although the "Operation Accelerate" initiative has resulted in 55% program growth over the past year, including the addition at last of meal routes to rural Dunnigan and Clarksburg and expansion in every city, our ability to nourish more seniors currently is constrained by the inadequate size of our existing kitchen facility.  But, that's about to change!

Thanks to a one-time investment of American Rescue Plan funds by Yolo County, MOW Yolo is leasing a second kitchen, adding the potential to provide another 700-800 seniors with daily meals.  This will more than double our impact yet again, bringing our total service to as many as 1,300 seniors countywide by this Summer...a phenomenal nearly 250% uplift in just 18 months.

Yet, as dramatic as this increase will be, it means little more than 15% of the 8,000+ seniors living in poverty and considered likely to be food insecure in Yolo County, per the 2020 census, will be nourished regularly by MOW Yolo.  There still is so much work to be done to alleviate the physical and mental suffering of too many of your elderly neighbors.  Your support to build up and strengthen MOW Yolo's ability to pursue a community free from senior hunger and isolation is critical to success and healthier outcomes for thousands of local seniors.

Send a Valentine full of love to the seniors on your street, in your city, and in our county with your donation of funds, volunteer time, or BOTH!  The heart of Meals on Wheels Yolo County is the kitchen, and gifts such as these place you amongst the cooks as our heart grows.   

With gratitude,