Corning Meals on Wheels, Inc.

Our mission is to nurture health, dignity, and independent living among people who need meals delivered to their homes.  Our culture reflects our mission, which we sum up as...'a meal and so much more'.  We provide home delivered meals to homebound & frail older adults on a donation basis for as long as they need the help. Some need us for short periods (i.e., post-surgery, illness, injury...) while most require long-term support.  In 2024, we are on track to deliver over 57,000 meals to ~300 people in the Corning-Painted Post area.  

We strive each day to fight senior hunger & isolation, helping vulnerable older adults remain safely in their homes. We ensure seniors have access to adequate nutrition when family support, mobility and resources are lacking. Adequate nutrition is necessary for health, functionality and the ability to remain independent. Healthy eating can increase mental acuity, resistance to illness and disease, energy levels, immune system strength, recuperation speed and the ability to manage chronic health problems. For so many of the people we serve, the volunteer delivering a hot meal and a warm smile is the only person they see or speak with that day. That brief personal interaction can be uplifting to an otherwise isolated senior. Volunteers often assist clients with seemingly small tasks like changing a light bulb or mailing a letter...small gestures with big impact for our seniors. Volunteers also provide a safety check, as aging often comes with increased risks of medical emergencies, falls and other accidents. The safety check that accompanies each meal delivery ensures that, in the case of an emergency or problem, medical help will be called and families will be notified. 

We are truly a neighbors-helping-neighbors solution to senior hunger.  Our volunteers provide the power, and our donors provide the means to accomplish our mission.  An average day requires six volunteers to help with meal preparation.  We have, ideally, two driver/visitor volunteers assigned to each of our 16 delivery routes every weekday. That's 38 volunteer opportunities daily, or 190 each week, to prepare and deliver meals.  Using only the NYS minimum, our volunteers will have donated the equivalent of roughly $216,450 in volunteer labor this year.   Speaking of money, we do receive a small government subsidy of $0.74 per meal; however, our actual costs average out to $7.75 per meal as inflation has taken its toll.  It is only thanks to caring and generous donors like you that we are able to meet the needs of our vulnerable senior neighbors.