Mission

East Cooper Meals on Wheels delivers daily nutrition to residents within our service area who are homebound or unable to provide their own meals. We also advocate on behalf of recipients whose needs exceed the scope of our programs.

Our mission extends beyond the poor elderly to include anyone of any age who is homebound for any length of time and/or unable to independently provide a meal.  Through self selection, however, most of our recipients are over 65 years of age and 75% of our recipients live at or below the poverty line.  East Cooper Meals on Wheels has never reverted to a waiting list.  Within 24 hours of a call for assistance, our screening team investigates and processes the need. Today, there are more than 20,000 Meals on Wheels organizations across the country and at least 50% of them have waiting lists.  As a result, approximately 100,000 people currently await home-delivered meals in the U.S.  Here in the tri-county area, we are the only one of five meal distribution organizations that does not maintain such a list, and our volunteers are committed to making sure we never have to do so.  This priority is foundational to our mission.

Program

Our service area includes Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island, Cainhoy, Wando and Daniel Island.  Referrals for service are made by local physicians, social service agencies, hospitals, clergy, relatives and prospective recipients themselves.  Trained volunteers interview prospects in their homes.  These interviews help us assess nutritional and other needs so we can tailor our services accordingly and/or advocate on behalf of the individual for services that exceed the scope of our mission. Qualified recipients are those found to be unable to provide their own meals at home.  Once determined to be qualified, recipients are added to one of 14 routes for daily meal delivery.

The food we deliver is freshly prepared every day.  As proscribed by geriatric dietitians, each meal provides at least 33% of the recommended daily dietary allowance for adults 52 and older.  Our Second Meal Program provides additional nutrition for the most needy of our recipients who depend upon us for all of their daily nutritional needs.  We also maintain a small food pantry for those in critical need of staples.

Daily operations begin at 8:00am with staff arrival and delivery of hot meal items in bulk form to be individually apportioned.  By 8:30 am, a packing crew of 6-8 volunteers has begun to plate, package, and pack individual meals into coolers for 14 delivery routes.  Another crew of 8-10 volunteers load the coolers into their own vehicles and disperse throughout the community. One volunteer helps maintain records and communicate information to drivers regarding changes in recipient needs, Two others help the staff prepare for the next day's activities.  The office closes at 3:00pm.

It is through consistent collaboration with numerous local businesses, churches, schools, hospitals and community organizations that East Cooper Meals on Wheels is able to serve every qualified resident who requests assistance.  These include Carolina Park Associates, the Daniel Island Community Fund, The Junior League of Charleston, the Bakker Family Fund, Bi-Lo Charities, The Exchange Club of Charleston, East Cooper Community Outreach, East Cooper Habitat for Humanity, East Cooper Regional Medical Center and the Town of Mt. Pleasant, as well as numerous churches, restaurants, and schools.

History

In 1985, a small group of people from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church gathered to cook and deliver meals to seven fellow parishioners who were unable to prepare their own meals. The group soon discovered that the need for home delivered meals was greater than they had anticipated. As a result, East Cooper Meals on Wheels was incorporated in August of 1985 to provide and deliver mid-day meals to elderly homebound residents. Shortly after this, the operation was moved to Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church. At that time we served meals purchased from East Cooper Hospital.
 
After Hurricane Hugo, we moved back to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Over the next few years, the number of people served increased dramatically as did our service area.  A satellite site was opened in the spring of 2001 at Christ Episcopal Church, where 80 meals were packed and delivered every day.  In February of 2004, the two sites were consolidated and moved to our present location at Porcher Hall on the campus of Christ Episcopal Church.

In 2006, we packed and delivered over 70,000 hot mid-day meals.  Our 220 volunteers now distribute at least 235 meals five days a week with 165 additional weekend meals delivered every Friday. The 2007 total exceeds 77,000 meals.  During the next twelve months, we anticipate increased need in Mt. Pleasant’s Old Village, the Hamlin Plantation neighborhood, along North Hwy 17, and on the Cainhoy peninsula.