Last year, the Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois launched the “End the Wait” campaign to unite communities in providing senior citizens with nourishing meals, companionship and recreation, and the care they require for enriched lives.

Across Kendall County, the nonprofit served 45,927 home-delivered meals in 2025. They also served 8,713 “cafe meals” in social settings to older adults gathered in places like the Beecher Center in Yorkville. The cafe meals are designed to promote socializing, often including games and crafts, fitness demonstrations, and special presentations.

The nonprofit also serves cafe meals from the Oswegoland Senior and Community Center. In Plano, cafe meals are served from Planet Pizza and Two Partners Cafe.

“It’s been an incredible year for our Kendall County sites,” Elizabeth Bowman of Meals on Wheels for Northern Illinois said in a release. “We couldn’t do it without our nonprofit partners and our precious volunteers. We want to ensure that every older adult in our community knows how to access our services and how to support them.”

Bowman said the home-delivered meals are “a lifeline for homebound seniors.” The nonprofit provides the meals five days a week to those in need. The nonprofit serves adults ages 60-and-older in Kendall, Grundy, Will, and suburban Cook counties.

The End the Wait campaign was launched after the nonprofit noted a 13% increase of meals served across its entire region in 2024, with a total of 1,170,051 meals served.

“Federal funding has not kept pace with the increasing senior population or rising costs, and alarmingly, only 1% of philanthropic donations in the U.S. are directed toward senior causes,” Diannaha Thompson of Meals on Wheels said in a previous release. “Local Meals on Wheels providers are present in nearly every community nationwide, eager to expand their reach but urgently needing additional resources to do so.”

The nonprofit said it is always seeking new volunteer drivers to help Meals on Wheels maintain and expand its delivery routes throughout area communities.

You can learn more about volunteering, contributing or advocating for seniors in Northern Illinois by visiting the nonprofit’s website, mowfni.org or by calling 630- 553-2316.