Excelsior Service Centre / Meals on Wheels

	EXCELSIOR SERVICE CENTRE
	Meals on Wheels Community Service [MOWCS] Eastern Cape NPO 002-744	15 Papenkuils Street, Westering PORT ELIZABETH 6025 P.O. Box 10523, Linton Grange   PORT ELIZABETH 6015
Tel: 041 360 4366       Fax: 086 268 4517       Cell: 074 148 5948       Email: managerpemows@gmail.com
We are a NPO that feeds about 600 people 3x per week. These include the elderly and disabled. To qualify for meals you need to be over 60. However we do feed some disabled people younger than that but the government does not subsidize us for their meals. This branch is one of + 120 across RSA; which provides just over 6 million meals a year to those who are unable to care for themselves or are disabled / handicapped. The headquarters of MoWCS in Bloemfontein orchestrates the running of the many branches in such a way that applications for assistance are all considered, irrespective of colour, faith or social standing. We run solely on donations. We are supposed to get a subsidy from the government however it is getting less and less every month. More info below. Meals on Wheels deliveries are done 3x a week on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday by volunteers (which we are short of). Help is always needed - see below. The centre is managed by Mr Murray Calitz. Mr Calitz and his team of 9 volunteers deliver meals on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays to individuals. On a Wednesday we run a club from the Excelsior Centre where the elderly can come and enjoy a meal and catch up with friends. The Centre is more than just a meal provider; it can also be described as a club house where all the people in the program get together on Wednesdays for some social interaction and culture enrichment. To enjoy warm companionship is an important part of their lives and help against loneliness, depression and boredom. For some it will be the only time that they will see other people, especially those who live alone. The helping hand does not end here, Mr Calitz and his volunteers at the Excelsior Service Centre go above and beyond by even taking time to take individuals to the doctors and even take them shopping. This is really and truly going the extra mile.    Picture: Happy meal recipients Meals on Wheels in Port Elizabeth is situated at the Excelsior Service Centre at 15 Papenkuils Street in Linton Grange. We also run a soup kitchen at the St Albans Primary School where we feed all the children as this is sometimes the only meal they'll receive. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: This type of person is extremely difficult to find! The general public seem to have very little time or caring left over for any of the elderly. The City of Port Elizabeth has in excess of 1,4 million persons, yet we have 9 dedicated volunteers that do the brunt of the distribution to the elderly. In theory each volunteer is supposed to perform tasks 2 to 3 hours per month. Since our volunteering family is so small, these good people work way past that number of hours per week.  When one considers that these volunteers are themselves not that young (range of age from 68 years to 74 years), you would agree with me that burnout is a very real possibility. Any type of volunteering assistance you could offer would be appreciated- even the answering of the telephone would help! WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:  Forward planning can hardly be attempted as we do not know what is coming in - Budgeting is in fact a nightmare!  The accumulation of small donations, here a bit, there a bit, does all add up. All the little drops eventually fills the bucket. The balancing act of this equation is the ever rising price of fuel and food; these two items exhibit no mercy when Meals on Wheels have to pay the same prices as the public. We are be over the moon when a debit order is signed or a monthly contribution is made.  As stated, every drop fills the bucket!!  Please contact us for more details.