Citymeals-on-Wheels facts for kids

Citymeals on Wheels, often called Citymeals, is a special group in New York City. It's a non-profit organization, which means it doesn't aim to make money. Instead, it helps older people who can't easily leave their homes. Citymeals raises money from people and companies to deliver warm meals and friendly visits to these seniors.

How Citymeals Started

Citymeals on Wheels was created in 1981 by two caring people, Gael Greene and James Beard. Gael Greene got the idea after reading a newspaper story. It was about older New Yorkers who were stuck at home and had nothing to eat on weekends or holidays.

She talked to James Beard, and together they decided to help. They raised money to give Christmas dinners to 6,000 older people. This first effort cost $35,000. It was a big success, so they decided to keep helping year after year.

Citymeals has a budget of about $20 million each year. Most of this money comes from donations given by individuals. In 2016, the organization had 15,412 volunteers. Today, it has about 15,000 volunteers.

The current leader of Citymeals is Beth Shapiro. She became the executive director in 2011.

On October 29, 2018, Citymeals opened a new building. It's called the Joan & Bob Tisch Emergency Meal Distribution Center. This large warehouse in Hunts Point, Bronx helps Citymeals prepare for emergencies. It was planned after Hurricane Sandy in New York to make sure they could help more people during future problems.

Citymeals delivers about 2 million meals every year. By March 2020, they had delivered around 60 million meals since they started in 1981.

Helping During COVID-19

In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Citymeals doubled its staff. This was to help more older people who were stuck at home or at risk. The organization started making 250,000 meals in just three weeks. They planned to keep making more meals as needed. Citymeals also began working with 250 meal delivery centers in New York. Before the pandemic, they had worked with only 30 centers.

What Citymeals Does

Citymeals delivers free meals to older New Yorkers who don't have enough food. They also check on these people to make sure they are doing okay. The organization works with local meal centers. These centers prepare and deliver meals on Saturdays and Sundays. This is important because government funding usually only covers meals during the week and not on holidays.

Friendly visits are also a big part of what Citymeals does. Volunteer groups spend time with older people who might feel lonely. This helps them feel more connected.

Holiday Meals

Citymeals provides money so that meal centers can stay open on holidays. This helps older people who can walk to the centers. Volunteers also deliver meals to those who can't leave their homes. Citymeals pays for holiday meals for Rosh Hashanah, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, New Year’s Day, and Easter.

Holiday Food Boxes

Sometimes, local meal centers close for holidays during the year. When this happens, Citymeals makes sure their clients still have food. They give out boxes of food that can be stored for a long time. These boxes might have canned tuna, chicken, milk that doesn't need to be refrigerated, cookies, crackers, and juices. Citymeals provides these holiday boxes for Labor Day, Season’s Greetings, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Passover, Memorial Day, and Independence Day.

Emergency Food Boxes

Citymeals sends out special emergency boxes of non-perishable food in the late fall. This helps older clients feel safe during the winter months. People are encouraged to keep some food on hand. This way, they have something to eat if bad winter weather stops regular meal deliveries. Extra emergency food packages are also sent every three months to people on waiting lists or those who need a second meal.

Supper Meals

Citymeals on Wheels and Cornell University did a study together. They found that 14% of Citymeals' clients relied on the program for all their food. These people didn't have money to buy extra food beyond their one daily meal. So, Citymeals now delivers supper meals to these older people. These are the ones who are the poorest, weakest, and most alone.

See also

• Hunger in the United States
• Malnutrition in the United States
• City Harvest
• God's Love We Deliver
• Taste of Tennis