PV Meals on Wheels - 40 Years and Counting
Posted by George Sherman
on Sep 10, 2012
On Friday, September 7, members welcomed to their meeting Ms. Jeanne Martin, Executive Director of Pascack Valley Meals on Wheels .
The Park Ridge Club has long been a supporter of Meals on Wheels, having provided seed money to help start the organization in 1972. In this, their 40th Anniversary year, Ms. Martin described the upcoming gala to be held on Thursday, October 4 honoring its founder, Bergen County philanthropist Margaret Cook-Levy. Margaret started Meals on Wheels 40 years ago with a group called Pascack Valley Center, originally comprised of 15 churches and temples from Pascack Valley. Seeing a need for area seniors who were at risk of not having a hot meal every day, and with a $200 donation from Rotary, she began deliveries out of the Park Ridge Diner. Within a year the program moved to Pascack Valley Hospital where it remained until the hospital closed in 2007. Meals are now provided through CareOne at Valley, Oradell Health Care Center and The Christian Health Care Center.
Today, volunteers for Pascack Valley Meals on Wheels deliver nutritious meals daily to people in 24 northern Bergen County communities who are unable to shop or cook for themselves due to age or disability. Over 400 volunteers serve as the backbone of the program. They use their own cars, gasoline and personal time to deliver the meals and often alert the organization to additional needs of the group's clients. Drivers are assigned to a regular route which normally takes about an hour to complete. Each driver is scheduled to deliver meals about once per month.
To learn more about PVMOW, visit their website at www.pvmealsonwheels.org.
The Park Ridge Club has long been a supporter of Meals on Wheels, having provided seed money to help start the organization in 1972. In this, their 40th Anniversary year, Ms. Martin described the upcoming gala to be held on Thursday, October 4 honoring its founder, Bergen County philanthropist Margaret Cook-Levy. Margaret started Meals on Wheels 40 years ago with a group called Pascack Valley Center, originally comprised of 15 churches and temples from Pascack Valley. Seeing a need for area seniors who were at risk of not having a hot meal every day, and with a $200 donation from Rotary, she began deliveries out of the Park Ridge Diner. Within a year the program moved to Pascack Valley Hospital where it remained until the hospital closed in 2007. Meals are now provided through CareOne at Valley, Oradell Health Care Center and The Christian Health Care Center.
Today, volunteers for Pascack Valley Meals on Wheels deliver nutritious meals daily to people in 24 northern Bergen County communities who are unable to shop or cook for themselves due to age or disability. Over 400 volunteers serve as the backbone of the program. They use their own cars, gasoline and personal time to deliver the meals and often alert the organization to additional needs of the group's clients. Drivers are assigned to a regular route which normally takes about an hour to complete. Each driver is scheduled to deliver meals about once per month.
To learn more about PVMOW, visit their website at www.pvmealsonwheels.org.