Northeast Dinner Bell Inc. was started in the parking lot of Trinity United Methodist Church in July of 1973. Dinner Bell was incorporated on March 19, 1974. The volunteers removed the heated meals from a delivery vehicle to their cars and delivered them to homebound neighbors. As the program grew the organization rented office space from Trinity church where they remain housed today, thirty-five years later.

Our non profit meal delivery service provides meals to people who are unable to shop and prepare adequate meals for themselves on a regular basis. Some recipients are elderly and some are mentally or physically challenged. For some recipients we become a temporary service as they recuperate from an injury or a hospital stay. For some others it will probably be their source of nutrition as long as they remain in their homes.

Many times our service enables the elderly to maintain their autonomy and their independent living status. A typical meal recipient is in their 80’s, widowed and living in their own home. Our daily visit provides security to their families who know that the volunteer driver will be checking in on their loved one each day and will report anything unusual or amiss. Unfortunately sometimes the meal delivery driver is the only human that the recipient will see all day.

At one time the program expanded to serve more than two hundred meals a day divided into 14 routes but presently serves between 120-160 meals per day with 12 routes. This translates into more than 250 volunteer drivers per average month. Originally the program was a faith-based operation and the routes were staffed with volunteer drivers recruited by church coordinators. Today nearly 2/3 of the volunteer hours are filled by volunteers recruited from area businesses, community based civic groups and individual volunteers.

Meals on Wheels programs are funded from a variety of sources. In many cases insurance programs pay for the meals. In our program more than half of our meal recipients donate money for their meals. Others who meet certain criteria are subsidized by local and federal government. However the income from these sources does not nearly cover the expenses of our program. We rely mainly on contributions from area businesses, churches, social service groups, memorials, fundraising activities and generous individuals.