Amid the pandemic, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Meals on Wheels has had to think outside the box when it comes to their annual fundraiser “Dining for Others.”
Food insecurity is one of the biggest issues facing our community during the coronavirus pandemic. One of the biggest organizations out there in terms of addressing that issue is Meals on Wheels.
Rachel Bearman is the Executive Director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Meals on Wheels.
Bearman said Meals on Wheels normally delivers a hot meal to homebound or older adults with disabilities every weekday, traditionally serving between a 160 to 180 people per day.
In light of COVID-19, our local Meals on Wheels, like many other organizations, had to change their model to address new community needs and safety practices. Bearman said they now serve five frozen meals and a bag of fresh fruit once a week to 220 recipients.
“The difference between February, with our regular deliveries, we had about 3,350 meals we delivered over the course of that month,” Bearman said. “This past month of April, that we just finished, we served 6,922 meals. So COVID has had a significant impact on the vulnerable population that we serve and also has basically doubled our capacity in the span of a month.”
Because of this increased need, Meals on Wheels needs more support than ever, which is why it was a big concern when it came to how they would hold their usual Dining for Others fundraiser.
Every year around this time, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Meals on Wheels holds their Dining for Others fundraiser. This event, complete with ticket sales, auctions and raffles, raises the bulk of their funds for the year.
Bearman said Dining for Others is Chapel Hill – Carrboro Meals on Wheels’ one big opportunity to bring people together from across the community so they can celebrate everyone that makes Meals on Wheels a success and bring awareness to the community that is served.
“We traditionally raise about $60,000 dollars a year from this event which helps to fund our annual operating budget,” Bearman said “So this year has been a significant challenge not only because of our increased level of service but also because of our inability to do our traditional fundraising.”
This event fundraising is very necessary as Meals on Wheels continues feeding the community – as it costs just over $2,000 dollars to provide one year of lunches for just one person.
This year, amid the pandemic, Meals on Wheels can’t hold their fundraiser in the usual way, but that’s not stopping them.
To keep the Dining for Others fundraiser alive, Meals on Wheels partnered with Carrboro United – a local food hub that serves as an online shop for people to buy food from local farmers, chefs and restaurants – all with the goal of stimulating the local economy and supporting small businesses.
Carrboro United hosts weekly “hub days,” where residents can order different family-sized meals in advance. In helping Meals on Wheels, they added an additional hub day where people could buy individual meals from local restaurants at $65 dollars a head with all the proceeds going to Meals on Wheels.
While the last day to order meals as part of the Dining for Others fundraiser was Monday, Carrboro United still has their usual three hub days on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. You can order now by visiting their website.
Additionally, to donate or volunteer with Chapel – Hill Carrboro Meals on Wheels, you can visit their website here.
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