- Donate your time by volunteering! Lawrence Meals On Wheels (LMOW) is always in need of additional volunteers.
- Donate office and cleaning supplies. Copy paper, postage stamps, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, paperclips and general cleaning supplies are always needed.
- Donate small candy bars. Our volunteers do not get paid, but we do have small candy bars for them as a small token of our appreciation! With more than 125 volunteers a week, we go through about $100-$120 worth of candy per month.
- Become an event sponsor or donate an item to our fundraisers or special events.
- Adopt a Route or Sponsor a Client. Please see below.
Monday-Friday, Lawrence Meals On Wheels (LMOW) volunteers deliver between 125-145 hot nutritious meals to home-bound elderly and/or disabled clients residing in Lawrence. That is over 32,000 meals per year!
Currently, we have 21 routes that each serve 6-8 clients. Every week we utilize a volunteer staff of more than 125 regular and substitute drivers. We are experiencing an increase in the number of clients who need our services and also in the number who need financial assistance as well. Throughout our 49-year history of service, we have never turned anyone away based on their ability to pay. We need to add an additional route and would like to enlist your help to do so. Here’s how you can help:
- In-Kind Donations. Each volunteer hour is valued at $20/hr.
- Adopt a Route
- Sponsor a Client
- Volunteer as an organization to deliver a route each week. Pick a day(s) and gather 2-8 individuals who wish to deliver meals every Tuesday, every other Wednesday, or even just once a month. Your organization is responsible to make sure the route is delivered on the days you have selected and people can do it individually or in teams of two. It typically takes an hour or less and can easily be done over your lunch hour. Please see our Volunteer page to learn about other volunteer opportunities.
Adopt a Route
Individuals or businesses are invited to “Adopt a Route” to cover the cost of food for a single route (6-8 clients) for an entire year. The cost of each meal as of 2023 is ~$9.00.
- $10,000 – funds the cost of food for a route for an entire year (~2,000 meals)
- $5,000 – funds the cost of food for a route for six months (~1,000 meals)
- $2,500 – funds the cost of food for a route for three months (~500 meals)
- $850 – funds the cost of food for a route for one month (~170 meals)
- $200 – funds the cost of food for a route for one week (~28 meals)
- Any other amount is also welcome!
Sponsor a Client
Individuals or business are also invited to “Sponsor a Client” to help cover the costs of meals for a client in need. Food alone costs more than $5.00/meal.
- $1,250 – feeds a client for an entire year for one client (~250 meals)
- $625 – feeds a client for six months for one client (~125 meals)
- $200 – feeds a client for two months for one client (~40 meals)
- $100 – feeds a client for one month for one client (~20 meals)
- $25 – feeds a client for one week for one client (~5 meals)
- Any other amount is also welcome!
Support
Support Lawrence Meals on Wheels (LMOW) by participating in the Douglas County Community Foundation’s (DCCF) Giving for Good Campaign. Our volunteers brave the cold weather to deliver hot nutritious meals to their homebound Lawrence neighbors in need. Some days, the roads can be too treacherous for volunteers to drive, so we turn to our blizzard bags program. Your donations will help fund our blizzard bags, which contain 3-4 shelf-stable meals, snacks, and winter accessories. DCCF donors will match all contributions, so double the impact of your gift with this donation. The campaign ends Dec. 31, 2021. Visit DCCF to donate.
Dillons Rewards: Enroll Lawrence Meals on Wheels (LMOW) #20094 as your charity of choice. Every time you shop you earn rewards and fuel points. Lawrence MOW earns cash at no additional cost to you!
GoodShop: Raise money for Lawrence Meals on Wheels (LMOW) just by searching the Internet or shopping online.