Meals on Wheels in plea to local firms as running costs mount

Longford Meals on Wheels has been a staple of the Longford’s volunteering and community based sector for the past 50 years.

It has and continues to remain a key factor in aiding some of the county’s more senior and vulnerable sectors of society in delivering hot meals to homes on a daily basis.

However, due to an unrelenting surge in demand brought about first by Covid-19 and then worsening inflation crisis, the organisation is appealing to local businesses to provide much needed sponsorship money to withstand that demand.

“With fuel costs and energy costs, everything has just gone up,” said Elaine Keogh of Longford Meals on Wheels.

A permanent fixture with the service for the past 30 years, Elaine said the rising burden placed on the body has seen recipient numbers rise to 160 in recent times.

And while she said funding streams for non-acute or community agencies was being availed of through the HSE, the service’s chief dilemma was in addressing soaring day to day running costs.

“We have five people on community employment schemes and we have a problem at the minute in getting a sixth person for the kitchen,” she said.

“We have a couple of part time drivers we pay for as we need a continuity of people and for those people to build up a relationship with people.

“This is where we find we are having to pay for staff. We have volunteers as well, but they tend to go with the staff we have out to homes,” Ms Keogh told the Leader.

As part of that drive, the service is appealing for local firms to provide €250 and in return they will be added to the Meals on Wheels website to where the names of all those who donated will be publicised and their branded thank you also being uploaded.

All those who take part will be added to the service’s printed materials and pop up stands and when the campaign finishes, a certificate of sponsorship will be dispatched in order to allow participants display the document in their business and on their website.

A full profile of participating businesses will be similarly carried in Longford Meals on Wheels four times a year in a move that will be received by thousands of customers every three months.

For more and see how the sponsors directory works, simply log onto www.longfordmealsonwheels.ie/ sponsors-directory.
Businesses looking to donate can sign up directly by following : www.donors.ie/campaign/55/ longford-meals-on-wheels