Meals on Wheels – locally and nationwide – just turned 50. The first six local beneficiaries were served on June 5, 1972 by the first executive director of Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula, volunteer Sally Judd Griffin, from her own kitchen.
Meals on Wheels – locally and nationwide – just turned 50. The first six local beneficiaries were served on June 5, 1972 by the first executive director of Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula, volunteer Sally Judd Griffin, from her own kitchen.
Soon, the mission grew and moved to the First Presbyterian Church of the Monterey Peninsula, providing services to 168 clients and busying 228 volunteers in the early `80s. In 1987, the program was so big that it had to move again, claiming its own building in Pacific Grove, first known as the Meals on Wheels Community Center, now as the Meals on Wheels Community Center.
“We serve 800 to 900 meals every day,” says MOWMP’s Sharon Coggin. “Fridays are double. We provide people with 2.5 meals every day.”
But meals are not the only thing you can consume at the Meals on Wheels Community Center. Arts were viewed as part of the Meals on Wheels experience since Griffin’s time, as well as information services and social opportunities. Offerings included congregate meals (until Covid) and a large community center space, open to pretty much anyone who needs it (not just seniors). There, the Carmel Art Association hangs pieces, and Pacific Grove Public Library keeps bookshelves supplied. Visitors can eat, read and socialize.
As of March 21, a unique exhibit is also on display: “Walk of History,” a collection of photos, newspaper clips and memorabilia celebrating 50 years of Meals on Wheels’ activity in the area since the Older Americans Act of 1965.
That law “is the only federally supported program designed to combat both senior hunger and isolation,” says Executive Director Christine Winge. Winge took over when the pandemic did, navigating through Covid.
Now, its doors are open again.
In 2022, MOWMP’s spacious kitchen looks like a little factory and an airport at the same time – the latter due to the electronic board that instead of arrivals and departures displays names of volunteers and their routes. Drivers grab coolers with hot meals and buckets with cold food such as cereal or fruit. They will make sure it will get to homebound seniors and people with disabilities.
“They are actually checking on people,” Coggin says. “We don’t just leave meals. We look for the person, make sure they didn’t fall, that they are just out of town.”
WALK OF HISTORY exhibit is viewable at 700 Jewell Ave., Pacific Grove. 375-4454, mowmp.org.
