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History
Meals For The Elderly started as a dream of Mary Alice Rodgers after she saw a need for food for the elderly in San Angelo. Her idea was to have meals delivered to the homebound by volunteers 5 days a week. She diligintely worked to try and secure funding for the program by attending city council meeting and county commissioner meetings as well as appearing on the local news station. Through her efforts, she was able to secure funding from the county and a family charitable trust to get the program going. She created an advisory committe and they set eligibility requirements.
The program officially got underway on August 1, 1974. Four volunteer drivers delivered meals to 16 recipients. Hazel Dooley served as the dietician and program director. She planned the meals, shopped for groceries, set up routes, coordinated volunteers, and solicited donations.
The program operated out of the South Angelo Neighborhood Center when it was first established. In 1987, the San Angelo Homebuilders Association voted to erect a new building for Meals For The Elderly as their civic project, The new building went up over 2 weekends and staff moved in shortly after that. That building is the one we still reside in today, with an additional expansion in 1999.
Since our humble beginnings in 1974, we have expanded to serve additional communities outside of San Angelo including Grape Creek, Carlsbad, Water Valley, Wall, Christoval, Miles, Concho County, and Irion County.
Over 50 years, we have delivered millions of meals to our homebound neighbors in need and we continue to grow that number every year. We are excited to see what the next 50 years holds for us and we thank everyone that has helped us reach this milestone.
50 For 50
To celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we will be highlighting 50 people who had some sort of influence in the organization. It would be impossible to recognize everyone, as we have had tens of thousands of volunteers, board members, recipients, community partners, donors, and so many more that have impacted the organization in some way. The 50 for 50 highlighted in this series stood out, and we did our best to represent the past and the present. We will be highlighting one person for each week througout the year.
Golden Gala
We will have a new and unique fundrasing event to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. The event will take place on Thursday, November 14, 2024 and will feature dinner and drinks as we look back at the history of our organization. Tickets and additional information will be available in September.
Submit a Testimonial
As we celebrate our 50th anniversary this year, we are looking for stories from past and present volunteers, recipients, family members, community members, and anyone else that has a story about our organization. Please take a moment to complete a survey to tell us what Meals For The Elderly means to you.