Simplified: Meals on Wheels is seeing demand increase at the rate of about 20 new seniors per month. Active Generations, a nonprofit addressing senior nutrition and health, is working to raise $200,000 to make sure it can continue to afford to fund the need without putting people on a waitlist.

Why it matters

  • Active Generations' "Meals for March" campaign aims to raise awareness of the nonprofit's senior nutrition services, which last year provided more than 281,000 meals for people age 60 and older. In total, 5,400 individuals were served.
  • More than half of those seniors are living in poverty, and about four in every five of them live alone. For many of these folks, the daily visit from Meals on Wheels volunteers dropping off a hot meal is their only social interaction during the day.
  • Right now, there isn't a waitlist for seniors who sign up to receive Meals on Wheels or Active Generation's in-person hot meals served daily. But it's getting harder to keep that up, President and CEO Betsy Schuster said, and there are already some people who are getting frozen meals less often instead of a hot meal every day.
"Ideally we want everybody to have a hot meal everyday," Schuster said. "Pretty soon, we'll have to continue to raise funds so we can even continue to do frozen routes. We do not want to turn anyone away."

Tell me more

There's also a gap of about $5.25 per meal between what federal and state reimbursements account for and the actual cost of meals.

  • Meal recipients are provided a suggested donation to help cover the cost of meals, and on average they can contribute $2 per meal. But for many living on a fixed income, they're not able to pay more.

It all amounts to about a $66,000 per month shortfall that Active Generations relies on community donors to support, Schuster said. The nonprofit does not receive any support from the City of Sioux Falls.

And Schuster knows they're also not reaching everyone who might need their services, so she wants to be able to reach even more people as the demand grows.

How can I help?

There are a number of ways to support Active Generations' senior nutrition programs, both through financial and volunteer support.

  • You can give money directly to support Meals on Wheels here.
  • You can also learn more here about volunteer opportunities – especially volunteering to package or deliver meals to seniors.

And, if you're looking for another way to give back, you can also support local restaurants who are donating a portion of sales to Active Generations.

  • On March 3, R Wine Bar, Brix Wine Bar, Trio Jazz Club and Mirabella Ristorante will donate 10% of sales.
  • On March 10, The Barrel House will donate 10% of sales.