Christian Walter receives a meal from Emilee Suppers and Ray Rudolph, courtesy of Mobile Meals of Hamilton. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
Eileen Eversheim has the perfect barometer for measuring the success of the nonprofit she oversees: her mother.
Eversheim is executive director of Mobile Meals, an organization celebrating its 40th anniversary as part of the Hamilton Township community. She prefers to characterize the milestone as “40 years of service” to the 90,000 residents of the township.
Founded in 1975, Mobile Meals of Hamilton Township, Inc., delivers hot, nutritious meals to township residents whose physical, mental or social conditions require a home-delivered meal service. Eversheim’s mother is a recipient of one of those daily meals and if there was ever a problem with the delivery process, Eversheim is confident her mother would let her know about it.
Her mother is a typical example of the people Mobile Meals was designed to help.
“She doesn’t want to live with me or anyone but herself, and she’s doing that,” Eversheim said.
Mobile Meals does not receive any government funding, and as such is not subject to any imposed restrictions.
“No one can tell us who to serve, nobody gets turned away,” Eversheim said, adding clients must have demonstrated need.
Hamilton residents can take advantage of the program regardless of their ability to pay. The program is about keeping people in their homes instead of them being forced into some other facility, and she said Mobile Meals is key to doing that. She has found that the people the organization serves are an often overlooked, but important part of society.
“These are people who had interesting lives,” she said. “You feel honored to help them at this point in their lives. It makes me feel good.”
She said the homebound often lose interest in food when they become isolated, and the meals and the company that delivers them are able to sustain the homebound. Volunteers are doing more than just dropping off meals since they are regularly visiting and forging relationships with meal recipients.
Eversheim said her mother informs her about the visits she gets from her volunteer.
Eversheim took the executive director post 11 years ago. The organization continues to operate only due to the generosity of local churches, community organizations and personal contributions. That support allows the organization to carry out its mission, although there are times money is tight.
“We’ve been doing this so long we’ve learned how to make it work,” Eversheim said.
A small group of founders from St. Mark’s Methodist Church began the enterprise in January 1975 and some of them still volunteer today. Volunteers include 10 Nottingham Insurance employees, who give up their lunch hour to deliver meals one day a week. The employees rotate through teams of two every Wednesday, according to Janet Engelke, whose family, the Blairs, was among the founders of Mobile Meals.
Engelke said her parents, who helped start the organization, have retired to North Carolina and started delivering meals in their new hometown. Engelke’s brothers at the insurance company continue to be involved with Mobile Meals.
Mobile Meals serves more than 20,000 meals a year, using eight volunteers per day, five days a week. The volunteers work each route in teams of two with a driver and a runner, covering 20 people per route. The 20th meal has to be as hot as the first meal, Eversheim said.
Mobile Meals currently pays Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for the meals, which are made of strictly regulated food that remains sealed in a microwavable container. Participants have three meal choices.
In 40 years, no one has gotten sick from bad food, Eversheim said. Previous providers have been Trenton General and Hamilton hospitals. Since the hospital prepares the meals, they meet strict nutrition and dietary standards.
Engelke said meal recipients have an option to receive a cold sandwich and fruit along with their hot meal. A typical Wednesday trip begins around 11 a.m. when the volunteers drive to Robert Wood Johnson to pick up the meals. They make anywhere from 15 to 22 stops depending on the day before heading back to the hospital to drop off the coolers.
Engelke said about 100 meals are served each day. Many recipients do not have family locally, Engelke said, so it is helpful to families in that situation.
Eversheim said Mobile Meals must continually find resources to cover the meals. The organization runs annual “sustainability campaigns,” usually beginning around Thanksgiving, which help to keep it functioning.
One challenge is raising awareness that the service exists, even after 40 years.
“People need to know we are there,” Eversheim said, adding that home delivered meals would not be a service that comes immediately to mind unless it is needed.
She also said there is not a lot of industry or corporate presence in Hamilton Township, which can make finding donors difficult.
“There are banks, but not a lot of established corporations,” she said.
She said they did not reach their funding goal last year, and she is trying to offset the deficit by applying for grant funding.
“We want to continue to do well,” Eversheim said. “You need money. You need donations.”
A $100 donation feeds one resident for one month.
It helps that Mobile Meals has a low overhead. Eversheim said their small office space is donated, and she is the organization’s sole employee. She acknowledges that the group’s 15-member board of directors also helps to provide support.
She also cannot praise her volunteers enough and is grateful to have them, but she is always looking for more.
“My doors are open,” she said.
For more information, go online to mobilemealshamilton.org or call (609) 448-4088.
,
