Our new kitchen is taking shape as well. We’re still working on the inside and expect it to be finished by the end of July. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for September 17 so save the date and join us then!
Author: andrewYLD
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Our New Office Building
A lot has changed since the last construction pictures were posted in March. We moved into our new office building on May 28 – 4 weeks ago today – and we’re loving it!
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April Marcee’s Corner
April is one of my favorite months.
I love spring. The weather is warming up and the flowers are coming out. Another reason to love April is that the 16th through the 22nd is National Volunteer Week. The theme again this year is “Celebrate Service.” The time, energy, and goodwill our volunteers give are certainly reasons to celebrate.
We depend on volunteers to package, serve, and deliver meals. They wash dishes and do clean-up. They take reservations, complete registration forms, and welcome new people to our dining centers, and they help in the administrative office. Here at Meals on Wheels, we will officially celebrate with our volunteers on Saturday morning, May 21. If you are a volunteer, be sure to “Save the Date”.
You can help “Celebrate Service” this month and all through the year by thanking a volunteer; let them know how much you appreciate all they do.
I also want to share with you the news that we have hired Brian Kinner as our Food Services Manager. He will be working hand-in-hand with our sites on ensuring healthy and great tasting food is delivered to our family! Brian is a certified Chef and a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu. He has restaurant experience, most recently with Country Gentleman Restaurant, where he did catering production, recipe work, and assisted with Meals on Wheels cooking. Brian is married to Shelby Kinner and has a new son, William. He enjoys kayaking, Frisbee golf, and antiquing.
Unfortunately, we must also announce that our Registered Dietitian, Jill Berg, has accepted a full-time position with DaVita Kidney Dialysis Centers. We are currently searching for the right person to fill that position. It’s only 8-10 hours per week, and the person has to be licensed by the State, so if you know of someone send them our way!
Marcee Woffinden
Nutrition Services Director
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Office Building Progressing
In less than five months, we’ve gone from a flat, empty lot to having a nearly completed office building. Paint colors have been chosen and inside painting starts this week. Other inside finishing – doors, drop ceiling, flooring, fixtures, etc. – still need to be done but it won’t be long before we’ll be packing our boxes and moving on in!
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Progress being made on Meals on Wheels Kitchen
The last outside wall of the kitchen went up at about 10 a.m. today (Mar. 8). A couple of internal walls and then the roof trusses go on. The SLR office building is almost ready for paint inside. It won’t be long before we can start moving in!
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March is National March for Meals Month!
The month of March mobilizes hundreds of local Meals on Wheels programs across the country to reach out to their communities and build the support that will enable them to serve America’s seniors all year long. Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels has planned a month full of March for Meals events. We’ll be honoring our wonderful supporters, enjoying ride-along deliveries from our Community Champions, increasing awareness of the needs in our community, recruiting new volunteers, & more. And if you receive home delivery, be sure to look for our March for Meals delivery magnets on your volunteers’ cars!
Schedule of Events:
March 2, 9, 23 & 30 Connell Bring a Friend to lunch Wednesday at Connell Community Center, 211 E Elm, Connell, WA.
March 15 Connell staff & volunteers at Harvest Food, 620 S Columbia, 6-8 am & 3-6 pm.
March 17 1st Annual Lepre-con Pub Crawl benefiting Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels, 6-10 pm, starting at Dax’s Bar & Grill, 1004 Lee Blvd in Richland. To register, sign up at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lepre-con-pub-crawl-tickets-21677684538.
March 19 Meals on Wheels at South Richland Yoke’s, 454 Keene Rd, noon to 4 pm.
March 19 (tentative) Pasco staff at Pasco Yoke’s Fresh Market, 4509 N Rd 68, noon to 4 pm.
Ongoing Promotions:
USA Brake & Auto Repair—3809 W Clearwater Ave in Kennewick, will make a donation toward Meals on Wheels with each car repair.
Appreciation Marches—Meals on Wheels staff and volunteers will be delivering appreciation signs to our wonderful community supporters throughout the Tri-Cities, Prosser, Benton City, & Connell.
Meals on Wheels Blue Brigade T-Shirts—are available for minimum $10 donation. Show your Meals on Wheels pride! To order a shirt, please contact your site manager or call our office at 735- 1911.
Community Champions— the leaders of our communities, will accompany our drivers on meal routes. Meals on Wheels Supporter magnets—6 inch round magnets for a donation of $5 or more.
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Employees & Families of HAMMER facility & Mission Support Alliance donate to our pet program
Nancy Ness, who works for Mission Support Alliance at the HAMMER facility, heard about our pet program and brought in this donation. Nancy collected money from her co-workers and family. She also recruited them to help her get this huge supply of pet food for our pet program that runs alongside the Meals on Wheels program. Nancy recognizes that too often elderly and other vulnerable adults will go without food for themselves in order to feed their pet(s). By addressing this need we improve the chances of them having money to buy food and/or other vital supplies for themselves.
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Share the Love – McCurley Subaru
This December marks another year of our participation in the annual Share the Love Month with McCurley Subaru. This event is a nationwide event conducted in conjunction with Meals on Wheels America, our national association.
The sales team from McCurley Subaru will join our Meals on Wheels volunteers in delivering meals in brand new Subaru’s! With every purchase of a Subaru in the month of December, Subaru will donate $250 to a charity. McCurley Subaru has chosen Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels as their Hometown Charity for this event, and they will be encouraging new owners to select us for their local donation.
Thank you, McCurley Subaru for naming us as your Hometown Charity!
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December Volunteer Spotlight
Our newest administrative volunteer, Sandy Weber, has only been working at the office for about 4 months but has already put in lots of hours. She spends 4 hours with us every Wednesday, doing a
huge variety of tasks including answering phones, putting together information packets, creating spreadsheets, and working on computer projects. She is always ready for a new challenge, and she’s been agreeable to helping with projects outside her normal volunteer schedule. Sandy grew up in southern California but has lived in the Tri-Cities since 1985, when she moved here to be with her husband, Clyde, who was already living here.Sandy and Clyde have been married 30 years, and Clyde is a volunteer driver in Kennewick. Sandy retired two years ago after working as an administrative assistant at PNNL. Since retiring, Sandy has been busy volunteering with Meals on Wheels, her church, Team Read, and at the Benton Humane Society. She also keeps herself busy with gardening, traveling, working out, reading, and taking care of their new puppy, Bandit. Sandy loves volunteering because she feels it’s important to give back to the community. Her name actually means, “Helper of Mankind,” and volunteering is a way for her to live up to her name. Sandy says she’s always liked to work, so it’s just natural that she would continue to help in her retirement.
We are very grateful for Sandy’s time and expertise, as well as her willingness to help with just about every aspect of our agency. Thank you to both Sandy and Clyde for thinking of us when
they were ready to volunteer in the community! -
December Marcee’s Corner
As the year comes to a close, we are busy preparing for winter weather here at Meals on Wheels. If your meals are delivered to your home, you should have received a two meal “shelf stable” meal box to use in case we can’t deliver meals due to a winter storm. If you did not receive this box, please call your site manager. Now is also a good time to think about making some preparations of your own. Make sure you have plenty of easy-to-prepare food and some bottled water on hand, and check the batteries in your flashlight. If you wake up to snow or ice, please listen to local
radio or TV stations to see if Meals on Wheels is serving or delivering meals. We not only want you to be safe, but also want to keep our volunteers safe and off icy roads and sidewalks.This month I also want to thank Stephanie Bass and Shandra Knowles for their good work over the past year. They have left our agency, and we wish them the best in their new adventures.
We recently hired Kristi Wright as our new Food Service Manager. Please see the announcement on page 2, and please welcome her when you meet her. Here at Meals on Wheels we want to wish you a very happy, healthy and warm Holiday Season.
