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ELKINS – The Randolph County Commission has agreed to provide additional funds to the Randolph County Meals on Wheels program.
The County Commission currently provides $5,000 in funding each year to the program as part of its budget. During an information presentation at the last commission meeting, Rhonda Coffman, a volunteer with Meals on Wheels, talked about the program’s budget shortfall and made a request for more funding in the future.
“We are still short about $3,000 per year,” Coffman said. “I have been with the organization for seven years and it’s been $5,000 (from Commission) ever since I’ve started. I don’t know when the Commission started helping and I don’t know when increments ever happened, but I do know in the last seven years there has been no increment to the $5,000, although it’s highly appreciated. I’m here to see if there is anything more we can get for next year.”
Coffman said Meals on Wheels, which has provided 10,000 meals to clients at a cost of around $34,000 this year, almost folded two years ago, after it had to start charging clients for meals.
“We had almost 90 clients and they weren’t paying anything for meals,” Coffman said. “We paid for all of our meals and we were at a point where we were not going to be able to succeed. So we had to start charging all of our clients something.”
Coffman said that the highest amount any client pays for a meal is $4, and the least they can pay is $1.
“We lost a lot of clients and questions have been how are they doing now,” Coffman said. “We have no idea because we don’t have a tracking, a follow-up, or no way to help them. We couldn’t give them a free meal any longer. We still have 55 clients and more than half can’t pay the $4.”
Coffman told the Commission that the $4 doesn’t cover what it costs to take care of a client each month and that three years ago the organization faced a deficit of “DM (Davis Medical Center) supplies all of our meals at $3.20 per meal,” Coffman said. “Our invoices a month cost us just over $1,000 per month. The $4 per month clients don’t even cover what our costs are. We don’t want to increase costs to our clients and the hospital has been really good with us, not increasing the costs on the meals, they’ve absorbed an awful lot on their end.”
Commission President David Kesling told Coffman, “This is something we can look at when we start our budget process again in January. I would like to propose that we help you with the shortfall amount of $2,625, and then when we work in the budget next year, look at an increase.”
Commissioner Cris Siler suggested that the County Commission give the program $3,000 to help out.
“I’d like to go ahead and do an even $3,000 to try and help them out,” Siler said. “That will give them an extra few hundred that will help them get started going into next year. That way they are not as far back.”
Commissioner Kenna Barger had questions about the radius where the meals are delivered, and wondered why it has never been expanded beyond its current five-mile radius from Davis Medical Center.
“It’s five miles driving from the hospital. We do Highland Park, Crystal Springs, Chenoweth Creek and not much beyond there,” Coffman said. “That was a decision that was made by our Board.”
Kesling said he would like to see the mileage radius increased for deliveries, and asked Coffman to go to the board and see if that is a possibility.
“Tell them we will look at increasing that in our budget if they look at increasing the radius,” Kesling said.
Coffman said, “We have a meeting in November and we will take it to the Board.”
Kesling made a motion to provide Meals on Wheels with $2,625 to help with its shortfall. Kesling and Siler voted to approve the motion, and Barger voted nay.
“She just wants to see it expanded,” Kesling told Coffman about Barger’s vote. “If you need one of us to come and speak to the Board, we will do that.”
Meals on Wheels was established in Elkins in January 1973. The Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church provides the organization with an office space. Two trays of prepared meals are delivered by volunteers Monday through Friday.
The next Randolph County Commission meeting will be Nov. 5 at 1:30 p.m.