1973—Meals on Wheels of Ocean County is started by St. Andrew United Methodist Church. Senior citizens in the Toms River area were served lunch in the Old Fellowship Hall by an all-volunteer staff of congregation members.
1974—Meals on Wheels of Ocean County receives a $130,000 grant from Ocean County. On February 1st, we began preparing and serving meals from St. Francis Church on Long Beach Island. At the same time, we began our first Meals on Wheels program.
By the end of 1974, Meals on Wheels of Ocean County was operating three On-Site Meal Centers: St. Andrew, St. Francis and Lakewood. In just our first year of operation, we had 8 full-time employees, and nearly 1,800 registered adult participants. We were serving an average of 275 meals a day, including 21 Meals on Wheels recipients for a total of over 25,000 total meals!
Today – more than 50 years later, Meals on Wheels of Ocean County has grown, but our mission remains the same. We prepare and deliver over 240,000 meals annually. Our vehicles and drivers cover all 628 square miles of Ocean County delivering hot, nutritious meals every day. We provide nutrition and senior support services to over 2,600 Ocean County seniors each year.