November 2007 marked a milestone for South Chisago County Meals on Wheels as the program celebrated 30 years of service to seniors and homebound individuals in the Chisago Lakes community.

In November of 1987, the Meal on Wheels program established in the Older Americans Citizens Act became a reality. Chisago County Home Delivered Meals, as it was known then, started bringing a nutritionally balanced noon meal to older adults in southern Chisago County along four routes. Under the supervision of East Central Area Agency on Aging, meals were prepared at the Margaret S. Parmly Residence and funded by the federal government and Chisago County. The program limited the number of meals served to 25 a day at a cost of $.80 per meal.

Val Fredell, Joy Peterson and Mary Schmitz were the first coordinators at Trinity Lutheran Church because they felt their church needed to be a part of this service. Thanks to them and the many volunteers, 5,688 meals were served to seniors needing nutritional assistance during the first full year of operation.

In 1982, meal preparation moved to Lakeview Apartments. In 1991, the name officially changed to South Chisago County Meals on Wheels reflecting the service area covered by the program.

Daily meals are still prepared in the certified kitchen at Lakeview Apartments, an HUD-funded, independent living facility at Parmly LifePointes. Today, the meal delivery includes a cold, bagged dinner in addition to the hot meal for lunch and are prepared according to an individual's dietary needs.

The majority served today is over 80 years old and unable to manage their own meal preparations. Those receiving the meals must live within a 10-mile radius of Parmly including Shafer, Center City, Lindstrom, Chisago City, Wyoming and Stacy.

The heart of the program is the approximately 270 volunteers that coordinate their church's volunteers, help dish up the meals and drive the routes. The typical volunteer is retired, but drivers are of all ages including mothers and children, husbands and wives and grandparents and grandchildren. Most drivers volunteer once a month, some twice a month and few volunteer once a week.

This vital lifeline between the volunteers and those receiving the meals bonds the two of them to form a safety net for the elderly in our community. During 2006, these volunteers delivered 11,604 and have delivered 9,647 so far in 2007.

As it did when the program began, South Chisago County Meals on Wheels relies on local congregations to coordinate and recruit volunteers. Today, those congregations are St. Bridget's of Sweden Catholic Church, Lindstrom; Trinity Lutheran Church, Lindstrom; United Methodist Church, Lindstrom; Chisago Lakes Baptist Church, Wyoming; Zion Lutheran Church, Chisago City; Chisago Lake Lutheran Church, Center City; and St Paul Lutheran Church, Wyoming. Other volunteers from three area businesses and the community-at-large are referred to the churches for inclusion in the volunteer schedule.

Funding is now supervised by Central Minnesota Council on Aging with resources helping to cover the $3.60 meal fee coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Chisago County and the State of Minnesota with additional support from the Greater Twin Cities United Way as well as local donors. Jackie Law is the current Meals on Wheels coordinator.