We are excited to announce Great Plates Delivered by Meals on Wheels Orange County, a new initiative in response to COVID-19 to provide our older residents with much-needed meals during the Governor’s stay-at-home order.
This new initiative is part of the State of California’s “Great Plates Delivered: Home Meals for Seniors,” a public-private partnership to support older adults as well as local restaurants and caterers needing assistance during the COVID-19 crisis. Meals on Wheels OC recently was selected by the Orange County Office on Aging to serve as a local administrator for the program.
The partnership teams Meals on Wheels OC with restaurants and caterers to prepare and deliver three nutritious meals a day to adults 65 and older and adults 60-64 who are at high-risk from COVID-19, to support staying home and healthy.
Launched on May 19, 2020, we are serving more than 230 eligible seniors in North and Central Orange County through Great Plates Delivered and are adding participants daily as provider capacity expands.
To enroll, a senior or helper must successfully complete an online application on our website at www.MealsonWheelsOC.org, using our Great Plates button. If a senior is unable to use a computer and does not have help, they may call our Great Plates enrollment number at (714) 263-1425. Due to high call volumes, we recommend completing the application directly on our website.
Our CEO Holly Hagler shared, “We are excited about this opportunity to partner with local restaurants and caterers who are eager to get back to work and help us provide nutritious meals to even more seniors than the record-breaking numbers we are serving due to COVID-19.”
Older adults who are not eligible for Great Plates Delivered may still qualify for our COVID-19 Grab & Go meals at participating senior centers or our traditional home-delivered Meals on Wheels. Information is available on our website here.
Local restaurants, caterers and other meal providers interested in partnering with Meals on Wheels OC may review program requirements and submit an application here.
“When Great Plates Delivered was announced by the State, it was a framework, not a program,” said Hagler. “We have now turned a concept into a viable program that helps older adults in our community. It has been gratifying to collaborate with the Office on Aging and our colleagues at Age Well Senior Services, the South County administrator for this program, to create a seamless Great Plates Delivered solution for Orange County.”
This project is funded in part through a grant from the California Office of Emergency Services, as allocated by the Orange County Board of Supervisors and administered by the Office on Aging.
