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“Filled to the gills.”
That’s how Jennifer Homan, executive director of Meals on Wheels of Suffolk and Isle of Wight, described the organization’s office space at the conclusion of its partnership with Windsor-based Community Electric Cooperative in November.

Over the course of its four-month charitable initiative with Meals on Wheels, community members along with 43 of the cooperative’s employees collectively brought together nearly 13,000 items that Meals on Wheels can distribute to its clients.

The donations of food, toiletries and the like were boosted even more by a $2,000 cash contribution from CEC’s nine-member board of directors.

Meals on Wheels has assisted elderly residents in Suffolk and Isle of Wight since 1987. In addition to assisting seniors who are having difficulty making ends meet financially, Meals on Wheels helps people who are afflicted with arthritis and have difficulty preparing meals, as well as those with disabilities and those recovering from hospital stays.

“Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey and your recipients’ homes. We are so blessed to have you all in our community,” said CEC Manager of Communications Jessica Parr, who coordinated the partnership with Meals on Wheels.

Starting last summer, teams of CEC employees competed to see who could generate the most support for the organization’s mission. Through their contacts in the community, CEC team members enlisted donors to the Meals on Wheels cause, which is “to improve the quality of life of seniors and residents with disabilities by providing home delivered meals to those in need.”
The final list of donated items includes:
• 10,000 plastic bags

• 120 protein shakes
• 120 cans of soup
• 100 single-serve macaroni and cheese packets
• 240 trail mix packs
• 180 pretzel packs
• 60 tubes of toothpaste
• 150 toilet paper rolls
• 300 boxes of crackers
• 150 hand creams
• 450 applesauce containers
• 500 granola bars
• 300 tuna packs
• 10 reams of paper
• 250 rolls of paper towels

“I am blown away by their support,” Homan said of the donations. “Community Electric has given us the opportunity to not only deliver practical items to our clients, but they are giving the clients a sense of being cared about and that they are not forgotten during this season.”

Meals on Wheels has 11 routes along which it delivers meals between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. All but one of the routes is staffed by volunteers. The meals are prepared at Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk, which Meals on Wheels compensates. On delivery day, the clients receive one hot meal, one cold meal and two beverages. Through October 2024 it had delivered 33,036 meals to 172 clients.

“Our organizations and others like ours will continue to face challenges as we compete for grant and donor dollars,” Homan said. “The tangible, financial and public support that Community Electric has provided us bolsters our efforts to continue our mission, and we are incredibly grateful.”

Parr urged residents and businesses in the Tidewater area to continue supporting Meals on Wheels beyond this charitable initiative.

“We couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this year’s partnership,” she said. “This initiative made it possible for us to give back to our community and to do so in a way that strengthened our internal team dynamics. Meals on Wheels does such a fantastic job in our community. We encourage our friends and neighbors to keep them near the top of their charitable priorities with donations of food, time, money or all three.”
For more information on Meals on Wheels, visit www.mowsuffolkiow.com.