for Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland (MOWCM). The  Anne Arundel County office received a "hot shot truck" that allows hot and cold foods to maintain their proper temperatures until delivery.

During the past year, MOWCM provided 98,877 home-delivered meals to 421 individuals within Anne Arundel County.

Meals are transported in regular cargo vans and private automobiles. Bulk food leaves the central kitchen in Baltimore City in cambro-containers for the Severna Park and Annapolis sites. Packed meals are delivered to the Glen Burnie site.

Meals are packed at the Annapolis and Severna Park sites by volunteers. The packed meals are then placed in "hot boxes" and cold meals in coolers. Food is then delivered to the clients by another set of volunteers.

With all the transition, it is difficult to maintain the meals at proper temperatures causing a potential safety issue as well as deterioration of their appearance. As a result, there are areas in southern Anne Arundel County that Meals on Wheels is unable to serve due to the inability to have the food maintained at safe temperatures.

There are specialty retrofitted vehicles, called hotshot trucks, that allow food temperatures to be maintained throughout the process of getting the meals into the hands of the clients; from production in Baltimore City to the Anne Arundel County sites and to the volunteers that deliver across the county.

A hotshot truck, which costs approximately $48,000, was ordered earlier this year and a $25,000 grant was obtained from Anne Arundel County Department of Aging via stimulus money for senior nutrition. Staff and volunteers from Meals on Wheels will work within the community to raise the additional funds and maintenance fees needed to operate the vehicle.

For more information on Meals on Wheels, please visit www.mealsonwheelsmd.org or call Ms. Terry Lehr, Anne Arundel County Program Administrator at 410-626-7543. 

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