Vermont Business Magazine This March, Central Vermont Council On Aging (CVCOA) celebrates the amazing work of the 13 nutrition program sites we partner with and support. It takes the combined efforts of a small staff and dedicated volunteers to ensure hundreds of community members receive meals on a daily basis.
Older adults (age 60+) can call CVCOA’s Helpline (1-800-642-5119) to sign up for Meals on Wheels and receive healthy meals delivered to their door. In addition, meal sites offer congregate meals where anyone can come enjoy a meal with neighbors.
Monday through Friday, volunteers take to the roads to bring warm meals to their neighbors (a loose term when some routes cover more than 70 miles). Volunteers often share that part of their motivation comes from a sense they are “paying it forward” as one day they may rely on the service themselves.
Volunteering with the meal programs just “feels good,” and many cite the amazing folks they get to work alongside and meet on the route.
Meals on Wheels America, the leadership organization supporting the more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country, has directed its advocacy efforts toward a policy-level campaign to increase funding for senior nutrition primarily to reduce the number of older adults on waitlists to receive meals. Thanks to the incredible work of our communities, not one meal program in Vermont currently has a waitlist. When an eligible older adult calls to request home-delivered meals, they are added immediately.
And yet, the federally set reimbursement rate for meals through the National Senior Nutrition Program only covers about 40% of meal costs. This means meal programs must make up the difference through fundraising, donations, and town appropriations.
You can make a difference! By attending a community meal and paying the suggested donation, you sustain your local nutrition program, a vital community service. You can also make a donation directly to the program or become a volunteer, helping to prepare, serve, or deliver meals. And, you can write to your local representative and urge them to support an increase in Vermont’s meal reimbursement rates.
Watch this video to hear what meal program volunteers love most about preparing, serving and delivering meals: https://youtu.be/dJ348j4iQ3Y.
Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) supports older Central Vermonters to age with dignity and choice in 54 towns. Visit the CVCOA website at www.cvcoa.org or call the CVCOA Helpline at 1-802-477-1364 for more information or assistance. CVCOA is located at 59 North Main Street, Suite 200 in Barre with regional offices located in Morrisville and Randolph.
Source: Barre, VT (March 20, 2025) Central Vermont Council On Aging
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