Meals on Wheels Holds 2015 Winter Gala

Charlotte County Meals on Wheels celebrated their 2015 Winter Gala at SVCC’s John H. Daniel Campus, Workforce Development Center on Saturday, March 7.

The event featured a catered dinner, silent auction, 50/50 drawing and door prizes awarded throughout the night and entertainment for the afternoon was provided by The Overnight Sensations.  One lucky attendee, Daniel Smith, was announced as the winner of the 50/50 drawing. However, Smith graciously donated all of the money back to the Charlotte County Meals on Wheels Organization.  Additionally, Christie Lockridge held the winning raffle ticket for a beautiful handcrafted cherry wood cabinet.

According to literature, “Meals on Wheels is a non-profit 501-c3 organization that is governed by a board of directors.  CCMOW was founded in 2004 by a group of interested citizens who saw a need that was not being met.  The first meals were delivered in January 2005.”  Because Charlotte County Meals on Wheels is a non-profit organization, most of their funding is provided by sources such as churches, individuals, grants, client fees, stews, Charlotte County businesses and Board of Supervisors, a Bluegrass Concert and, of course, the Winter Gala.

Charlotte County Meals on Wheels does a good job of providing their clients with three meals a week, in addition to two frozen meals.  Volunteers have the task of delivering meals on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a small service fee.  The cost of provided meals is based on a sliding scale.

Literature from Charlotte County Meals on wheels explained that “In 2014, we delivered a total of 10,488 meals (6,168 hot meals + 4,320 frozen meals).  Since we began, we have delivered 83,465 meals.  Our program began with three hot meals each week, prepared by Sheldon’s Restaurant.  In 2012, we realized that there was a great need for more meals, so we added two complete frozen meals each week.  These are delivered on the same day as one hot meal.  These frozen meals are currently purchased from Sun Meadow-GA Foods and delivered to the freezers that are housed in Keysville Auto.  A grant from Altria Company Employees Community Fund helps to pay for those who are unable to pay for their frozen meals.”

While the Charlotte County Meals on Wheels does a great job providing assistance to needy individuals within the county, the backbone of the organization are the volunteers.  It was estimated that in 2014, volunteer delivery drivers drove an estimated 47,500 miles to supply clients with their meals each week.  There are a total of seven routes covered by the Charlotte County Meals on Wheels Organization which include Keysville, Drakes Branch, Charlotte Court House, Scuffletown, Cullen, Saxe, rural Keysville and Red Oak.

Many individuals were responsible for making the 2015 Charlotte County Meals on Wheels Winter Gala a Success.  SVCC provided use of the building, the Keysville Garden Club donated floral arrangements for the tables, The Overnight Sensations delighted the crowd with the sound of golden oldies, local newspapers and radio stations provided publicity and Badeaux’s Cajun Kitchen catered the dinner for the evening.  Additionally, Charlotte County Meals on Wheels would like to thank the many individuals and businesses who donated items for the silent auctionand door prizes, and provided financial support.  Special thanks is given to the Charlotte County Meals on Wheels Board Members and those who attended the 2015 Winter Gala.

If you are interested in volunteering with the Charlotte County Meals on Wheels, please give them a call at 434-736-8441.