Oakville Meals on Wheels (OMoW) celebrated a $185,700 Resilient Communities Fund grant awarded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) on Wednesday. The grant will be used to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and build resiliency for the future.
"I am delighted that our government is making investments to ensure residents in our community can benefit from the kind and quality-driven service delivered by Oakville Meals on Wheels (OMoW), an organization that has been proudly serving Oakville for over 46 years," acknowledged Oakville's MPP Stephen Crawford.
Since 1976, Oakville Meals on Wheels has delivered nutritious meals to Oakville residents who cannot attend to their own nutritional needs but wish to continue living independently in their community.
The organization, which serves more than 300 individuals and delivers approximately 2,100 meals per month, has delivered 1 million meals to residents – namely seniors and individuals with disabilities. The organization also provides its clients with the positive benefits of social contact, security, and increased independence.
"As an organization that is predominantly community funded, we are thrilled to receive these funds from the provincial government," commented OMoW Board Chair Steve. "The rising cost of living, especially for essentials such as food, makes food security a primary issue for people in Oakville, especially those living on fixed incomes.
"These funds ensure that we can continue to feed those in our community who have challenges obtaining a daily, hot and nutritious meal. Thank you to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for this amazing support."
Frank Linhart, CPA, CMA, and a member of OMoW's all-volunteer Board of Directors and the organization's treasurer, discussed how the funds will help mitigate their increasing costs, "Food packaging, community demand and the overall cost of food continues to impact our operations with the cost of meals increasing about 10.9% year over year. Support from the Ontario Trillium Fund will greatly help mitigate these increased costs."
For more information about OMoW, visit www.oakvillemealsonwheels.com.
About the Ontario Trillium Foundation
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), an agency of the Government of Ontario and one of Canada's leading granting foundations, celebrates 40 years of grant-making in Ontario and making a lasting impact in communities. Last year, OTF invested over $110M into 1,022 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario's Community Building Fund. Visit otf.ca to learn more.