Evansville's hometown Meals on Wheels · Since 1965
A hot meal and a friendly knock, every weekday.
Volunteers bring dietitian-planned noon meals to Evansville neighbors of any age who can't shop or cook for themselves. Every delivery is also a daily check that they're okay.
Need meals for yourself or someone you love? Start here →
every weekday
Who we are
Since 1965, Evansville volunteers have made sure neighbors who can't shop or cook still get a hot, healthy lunch and a friendly face every weekday.
However you found us, there's a way in.
Get meals delivered, fund them, or carry them to the door. All three keep a neighbor at home.
Get meals
Home from surgery, living with an illness, or finding cooking harder? Meals start with a quick call and a doctor's signature.
See how it works →Give
Client fees cover only about half of what it takes to cook, pack and deliver each meal. Your gift covers the rest.
Donate now →Deliver
About two hours, once a week or once a month. Drive, or ride along and carry meals to the door. Bring a friend.
Become a volunteer →
More than a meal
The knock at the door matters as much as the food.
Many older Hoosiers live alone: 28.5% of those 60 and over, according to Meals on Wheels America. For a neighbor who lives alone, the volunteer at the door may be the only visit of the day. If no one answers, the volunteer calls our office and staff follow up with the client and their emergency contacts.
Research backs this up. In Brown University's More Than a Meal study, older adults who received meals delivered daily, in person, reported less loneliness than those who got frozen meals once a week.
Why it works
What makes Meals on Wheels of Evansville different
A 30-year-old with a broken leg, or a 90-year-old living alone. If you can't cook for yourself right now, we can help.
Regular, diabetic, mechanically soft and pureed meals, matched to what your doctor orders.
Meals are prepared under the supervision of dietitians at Deaconess and Ascension St. Vincent.
Not a box on the porch. A hot noon meal, handed over at your door by a volunteer.
Fees cover about half. Neighbors like you cover the rest.
Clients pay a weekly fee toward their meals, but it doesn't cover the vans, insurance, supplies and staff that get a hot meal to the door. We hold just one fundraising drive a year, so every gift in between counts.
We receive no federal funding. Every meal is made possible by donors like you.
Join the Noon Club: monthly donors who keep meals arriving all year.
The meals are great, the company is better.
Two hours. One route. A lot of people glad to see you.
Volunteers work in pairs, picking up hot meals at the hospital kitchens and delivering them over the lunch hour in our van, not your car. Go weekly, monthly or as a substitute. Couples, college students, groups and work teams are all welcome.
FAQ
Quick answers
What is Meals on Wheels of Evansville?
Meals on Wheels of Evansville, Inc. is an independent, volunteer-driven nonprofit founded in 1965. About 50 volunteers deliver 120 to 150 hot, dietitian-planned noon meals every weekday to Evansville residents of any age who can't shop or cook for themselves, with an in-person wellness check at every door.
Who qualifies for meals?
Anyone in our Evansville service area, of any age, whose doctor or nurse practitioner confirms they need help with meals. That includes people recovering from surgery or injury, living with illness or disability, and older adults living at home.
How much do meals cost?
From $20 a week for five hot weekday meals, billed monthly. Clients can choose $22 or $25 a week to help cover costs. Donations cover the rest of what it takes to deliver each meal.
Is this the same as SWIRCA's senior meals?
No. SWIRCA & More runs a separate senior nutrition program for people 60 and older across six counties. Meals on Wheels of Evansville is an independent nonprofit and the only home-delivered meal program in Evansville with no age minimum.
How can I help?
Donate (every $16 covers about a week of meals and check-ins for one neighbor), volunteer to deliver for about two hours a week or month, or partner with us as a business or congregation.