Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Dear Neighbor,
For nearly four decades we have heard these refrains from our clients many times, and we never grow weary of doing so!
“Sometimes angels are disguised as the very nice people at Meals on Wheels.”
“Your service is a precious gift.”
“Thanks to the kitchen staff, drivers and youngsters who decorate our delivery bags.”
Over the past year we have prepared and delivered over 20,000 meals to members of our community who could not shop and/or prepare a meal for themselves due to age, infirmity or while recuperating from an illness or injury. We have no quotas, age requirements or waiting lists for our services and are committed to keeping it that way. It’s in our mission statement, “Providing nourishing meals to those needing assistance.” That’s it!
We rely on our enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers who work in our kitchen three days a week to plan, prepare and deliver enough meals for every day of the year, if needed. There are over 120 volunteers who ensure the meals are delicious, nutritionally balanced, customized for dietary restrictions and delivered on time. Clearly, there would be no Meals on Wheels without them nor without the generosity we have come to depend on from our community.
We are a non-profit organization that receives no federal or state aid for our expenses. Client payments cover less than 30% of our meal costs. And as many non-profits, we are feeling the pain of our economy’s retraction. We experienced a budget deficit last year and are anticipating the same this year. We need your help.
In these uncertain times, we are more grateful than ever for your loyal and generous support. Eighty-nine percent of our spending goes towards funding our services (rather than operational overhead). You can feel confident that any donation you may provide will directly benefit our Ridgefield clients.
On behalf of all of our volunteers and clients, thank you for your support.
Kind Regards,
Darwin Yoran, President