Meals on Wheels launches capital campaign

EVANSTON – Meals on Wheels NE Illinois recently launched its 2023 capital campaign and is expecting to raise $1.75 million to sustain and expand its physical footprint and operations in the region.

The strain on operations is driven by the growing wave of the aging boomer population. The last capital campaign in 2019 funded the food production facility in Evanston.

“A lot has happened since we opened the doors of our first kitchen three years ago and we need to be able to deliver more,” Executive Director Deborah Morganfield said in a news release. “We distributed more than 5,000 meals to older adults’ homes in February 2022. Only one year later, we served 17,517 February meals.

“MWNEI will serve 220,000 meals this year in a kitchen that was estimated to serve 100,000 per year,” Morganfield said. “We are in dire need of financial support to keep up with growth, so many of which are out of our control.”

Meals on Wheels NE Illinois added its first congregate dining program for Niles. Program popularity has the room rented from the village overflowing into additional spaces and 900 meals a month produced in its little kitchen. Word continues to spread about the quality of MWNEI’s food. More organizations would like meals for their programs.

“With your help we can deliver so much more,” Morganfield said. “We have a proven model as the premiere provider of nourishment. Let’s continue to demonstrate what a Meals on Wheels organization looks like now.”

Information is at https://mealsonwheelsnei.org/lets-deliver-more.