Chickasha Mobile Meals to end service after 40 years

Jessica Lane, The Express-Star, Chickasha, Okla.
·2 min read

Feb. 27—A volunteer-based organization that has fed homebound residents in Chickasha for four decades is closing operation.

Mobile Meals of Chickasha has served the community for 40 years, Judy Jernigan, a Mobile Meals Board President, said.

Mobile Meals delivers food to residents who are homebound while offering a point of contact to the outside world. While most recipients are seniors, this is not always the case.

A few factors come into play for the decision to close. The rising cost of food and shortage of new volunteers have made the current model unsustainable. The cost of a meal has nearly tripled and many of the current volunteers are in their 70s and 80s, Jernigan said.

Mobile Meals, she said, is a completely volunteer-driven organization. Volunteers deliver the meals and the operation has been totally funded by donations and never received funding from government programs, she said.

Moreover, Mobile Meals discovered there are other services available to residents in need. One example is senior nutrition centers. For years, Mobile Meals has been a resource for people who often fell through the cracks, such as those who were under 65 and/or seniors who could not drive to senior nutrition centers. Due to increased funding to senior nutrition centers, many of these centers are able to hire volunteers to deliver food to homebound senior residents, she said. There are other resources available, such as the Chickasha Soup Kitchen. Mobile Meals is also taking care of a small number of remaining recipients but they are not taking on any more clients.

Jernigan is concerned, however, for residents who may not meet senior nutition requirements for other services. For example, a person under 65 who has just arrived home from a surgery may not have family nearby to help.

Mobile Meals thanks their donors—churches, clubs, businesses, civic organizations and individuals—who have kept the charity in motion for four decades. These donations paid for many of the delivered meals, as many as 100 residents per day five days a week.

Jernigan said Mobile Meals also thanks the numerous volunteers who have dedicated their time to helping housebound members of the community receive a hot meal and warm smile every day.