Grant helps Meals on Wheels purchase new van to serve area seniors

This October, Meals on Wheels Rural Capital Area (MOWRCA) received a brand new reason to be grateful. The program, which provides meals to local senior citizens and veterans, received a new delivery van through a grant from the St. David’s Foundation.

“This vehicle is just a big, big deal for us,” said Karen Walpole, communications director for Combined Community Action, which is a support program for MOWRCA.

Previously, Meals on Wheels delivered meals out of a 1999 Econoline cargo van, but eventually, increasing maintenance costs forced them to seek alternate means of transportation. For a while, the program relied on a 2010 pickup truck, but that proved a less-thanideal delivery vehicle with the increased number of meals being served.

“We’ve seen a 160% increase in cases, at the peak when COVID hit,” Walpole explained. “In February, we had 3,452 [cases]. We peaked in April with 8,998. So this van has made a huge difference.”

“This one’s beautiful,” Liz Denson, Allenwood site manager, said.

The donated vehicle enables area Meals on Wheels programs to deliver more meals and wellness checks to Hays County seniors in need, without creating a deficit for the agency.

“The companies that provide for us are just like everyone else, trying to keep up. Demand definitely outweighed supply sometimes,” Walpole said. “Everywhere we can save money, it lets us provide more for the client.”

Noelia Buck, MOWRCA’s senior nutrition director said, “On behalf of Meals on Wheels Rural Capital Area and Combined Community Action, Inc., I would like to express our excitement with having a new and dependable delivery vehicle in Hays County to transport our home delivered meals. The new truck will save operating costs, therefore providing more funds to serve meals to our clients in the San Marcos area. We wish to extend our gratitude and thanks to the St. David’s Foundation for their generous support of MOWRCA for our elderly clients, especially during this time when help is needed more than ever.”

MOWRCA’s Senior Nutrition Program currently provides frozen or shelf stable meals to eligible senior citizens and veterans in Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays and Lee counties, providing meals through 23 sites. For more information on Meals on Wheels Rural Capital Area or Combined Community Action, Inc.’s services for Hays County residents, please contact 979-540-2980 or visit ccaction.com