Meals on Wheels gets grants
Published 12:00 am Thursday, December 13, 2012
Meals on Wheels of Rowan recently received grants totaling $15,000 from ConAgra Foods Foundation and the Food Lion Charitable Foundation.
The nonprofit will use the gifts in its mission to provide meals to homebound people in Rowan County.
Meals on Wheels of Rowan received a $10,000 grant from the ConAgra foundation’s 2012 Nourish Our Community Awards. It was one of 19 winners nationwide, with awards totaling $248,950.
The awards are given annually to nonprofit organizations that provide exceptional service to communities where ConAgra Foods has operations. The Rowan organization was nominated by ConAgra’s Charlotte sales office.
“Meals on Wheels of Rowan is an important organization in the Salisbury community because of the work they do to feed almost 200 people every day,” Jeff Schall, customer supply chain manager for ConAgra’s Charlotte sales office and Meals on Wheels of Rowan board member, said in a news release.
“ConAgra Foods is passionate about feeding people and supporting organizations in the areas that we live and work. We are proud to present this grant to Meals on Wheels,” Schall said.
Rita Sims, Executive Director for Meals on Wheels of Rowan, said she “was astounded” to learn the nonprofit had been nominated and won the award. ConAgra, she said,
“We spend a significant amount of our resources each year on meals, and almost half of that cost needs to be subsidized,” Sims said in the news release. “The $10,000 ConAgra Foods Foundation Nourish Our Community Grant will go a long way in helping us deliver approximately 50,000 meals in the coming year.”
The $5,000 from the Food Lion Charitable Foundation will also help fulfill that mission.
“We are thrilled to receive this grant. These funds will help to make up the difference between the cost of the meal and what the client pays for the meal. This grant helps us continue serving the homebound of Rowan County,” Sims said.
Meals on Wheels is a Rowan County United Way Agency committed to providing a hot, nutritiously well-balanced home-delivered noon meal. Volunteers who deliver the meals also provide a friendly personal visit each weekday. This allows residents to remain independent and in their own homes where they wish to be and are most comfortable, a press release said.