Nonprofit Newswire | Austin Meals on Wheels Overwhelmed by Demand

July 20, 2010; Source: Statesman.com | For some unlucky Austin, Texas seniors, mealtime will be delayed. Due to unprecedented demand, the city’s Meals on Wheels and More has started a waiting list for home-delivered meals. The group hasn’t had to take a similar action in three years. This time, the waiting list, which so far contains some 140 names, is the largest number of people that have ever been told they have to wait for help.

Meals on Wheels, which last year distributed 1 million meals, serves some 2,500 people a day. The group has seen its client base grow 10 percent a year over the past two years. Typically, annual growth has been about 6 percent. Still, there’s only so much Meals on Wheels can do. “Budget constraints brought on by the economic decline have forced us to limit the number of people we can currently serve,” spokesman Sarah Andrews said in a statement.—Bruce Trachtenberg