Meals on Wheels considers building new facility
McMURRAY – Meals on Wheels in Peters Township is examining the possibility of constructing a building to house its food service operation because it can’t find an existing space that meets its needs.
Peters Township officials decided late last year not to renew the nonprofit’s lease on the 5,000 square feet of space it occupies in the township fire department, which has said it needs additional space for training and offices. Meals on Wheels’ lease expires in December 2017.
“We were looking at the Muse fire hall, but that is in the extreme western end of our service area,” said Susan Hanawalt, the organization’s executive director. The agency also looked at 13 other relocation options, none of which met all of its needs.
Because Meals on Wheels needs a site that would be available from 5:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday with ample parking for volunteers, the number of appropriate sites has been minimal. The agency cooks and assembles more than 200 hot meals daily for senior citizens living in Peters and vicinity.
Hanawalt said the construction of a new building would run around $300,000 – if the organization could get a donation of a half-acre of land to build on.
“It makes a lot of sense,” she said. When it does relocate, the group will bring a 10-burner stove, two convection ovens, a steamer and a walk-in cooler.
Meals on Wheels has been at its current site since 2008 when it moved from St. David’s Episcopal Church in Venetia. It pays $4,000 a month in rent to the township for its space in the fire department building. The township has offered financial assistance to help fund relocation costs.
Hanawalt said when Meals on Wheels moved into its current location, a number of improvements were made, totaling $407,000. And even though it is not in the lease, Hanawalt said her organization is considering asking to be reimbursed for the improvements.
Also, Meals on Wheels will be raising its rate. It charges $20 a week for one hot meal a day, and $23 a week for one hot meal and one small meal. Beginning in April, those rates will be $25 and $30.