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The Meals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa family reached an incredible milestone this last week—we delivered our 250,000th meal of the year! Only a few years ago, that was the annual number of meals delivered. Although the number of meals delivered has been growing each year along with our aging population, the COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary for MOWMT to more than double our previous year’s deliveries.
Because of COVID-19, thousands of seniors across northeastern Oklahoma were unable to leave their homes. Jackie, the daughter of a client, was worried about her father. Since she lived in another state, she didn’t know if he was eating regularly. Jackie was overwhelmed with relief when she leaned how quickly we could deliver meals to him—the next day! She expressed how grateful she was that volunteers would also call to check on him three times a week, “A huge weight was lifted.”
The senior population is the fastest growing demographic in Oklahoma with one-third threatened by hunger. The sad truth is that there are thousands of frail, disabled seniors in the Tulsa area who live in isolation and struggle to cook meals. Every day, MOWMT receives new requests for meals and support services.
“We're only scratching the surface. Across all of our food distribution organizations, the need is so much greater than what we're hitting, and we're just really getting our hands around our heads around what this deepening and emerging need really is,” said MOWMT President and CEO Calvin Moore.
This year, with your help, Meals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa will deliver another 750,000 meals to our neighbors in need. As Mr. Moore said, “There's not a better organization that I know of across the country that's prepared to do this than Meals on Wheels.” Thanks for being part of the Meals on Wheels family!