2020 marks the 50th anniversary of sf.citi’s longtime partner Meals on Wheels San Francisco. Incorporated as a nonprofit in 1970, Meals on Wheels San Francisco (MOWSF) has spent the last half century providing San Francisco seniors with nutritious meals, emergency preparedness kits, and other critical services that help homebound seniors live independently.
Photo courtesy of Maren Caruso Photography
sf.citi and our members are proud to have worked with MOWSF during our 2018 One City Gives event, participated in the Adopt-A-Building program, and contributed to other MOWSF programs. To celebrate this momentous milestone and 50th anniversary, sf.citi sat down with Meals on Wheels San Francisco CEO, Ashley McCumber. We discussed MOWSF’s new state-of-the-art kitchen and food production facility, which will open in Fall 2020. We also talked about ways the San Francisco tech industry can support the next 50 years of service for our City’s aging adult population.
SENIORS IN SAN FRANCISCO ARE AMONG THE MOST VULNERABLE
According to McCumber, the majority of seniors served by Meals on Wheels San Francisco are “disproportionately poor and disproportionately isolated.” Up to 80 percent of MOWSF clients are living at or below the federal poverty line, which equates to approximately $1,000 a month. As a result, many MOWSF seniors live in single-room occupancy (SRO) housing where they experience little human interaction.
Furthermore, explained McCumber, the number of seniors in San Francisco (and in the United States) is growing—quickly. Right now, seniors represent one-fifth of San Francisco’s population. That number is projected to increase by about 100,000 people over the next ten years. Despite the growth of the country’s overall senior population, just 2 percent of charitable foundations in the United States focus on aging.
We still have a long way to go to get corporate entities to see investing in the aging space or people who are aging as something that is important to do.
— Ashley McCumber, CEO, Meals on Wheels San Francisco
This makes the work of MOWSF all the more important. “We are truly a safety net program,” emphasized McCumber. Without the daily meals provided by MOWSF and the staff and volunteers who deliver them, far too many aging San Franciscans would go hungry and find themselves completely cut off from the rest of the City.
MOWSF’S IMPACT OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS
Over the last 50 years, Meals on Wheels San Francisco has made impressive strides to scale their work to continue serving the City’s ever growing senior population. In 2007, MOWSF delivered 523,000 meals. Today, MOWSF delivers over 2 million meals each year. And that, said McCumber, is the “growth we’ve had to achieve just to meet the need that comes to our door.”
Providing our meals and services for one year in total is equal to the cost of one day of intense hospitalization.
— Ashley McCumber, CEO, Meals on Wheels San Francisco
To address systemic issues facing the City, we need a collaborative response. In addition to the organization’s core services, MOWSF also focuses on finding ways to compliment larger City efforts to care for vulnerable populations, including providing meals to individuals staying at navigation centers. We as a City are going to pay for homebound seniors one way or another, pointed out McCumber. MOWSF meals and services allow the City to keep its senior population housed and with support rather than sending them to very expensive care.
MOWSF TO OPEN A NEW KITCHEN IN 2020
Photo courtesy of Meals on Wheels San Francisco
Fitting for its 50th anniversary year, Meals on Wheels San Francisco will open a 35,000 square-foot kitchen and food production facility in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood later this year. According to McCumber, it will be the largest kitchen of its kind on the West Coast. Slated to open in Fall 2020, the new MOWSF kitchen will ensure the organization can continue to meet the rising demand for MOWSF meals and services.
To this point, McCumber said, “We realized that if we did not build this new kitchen, we would have to start turning people away at the exact time that the number of seniors continues to rise.” Currently, MOWSF can make a maximum of 8,000 meals per day. Once the new kitchen opens, however, MOWSF’s meal production capacity will increase to 20,000 meals per day. “And that’s a conservative number,” added McCumber.
The new MOWSF kitchen will also allow the organization to focus on things beyond quantity. First and foremost, said McCumber, is food quality. MOWSF is looking to expand food choices for its clients, including offerings for plant-based diets. MOWSF also plans to have more meals tailored to medical conditions and chronic disease.
Finally, McCumber said the new kitchen will open up more opportunities for MOWSF to partner with nonprofits, the City, and others who need to provide meals.
HOW TECH CAN SUPPORT THE NEXT 50 YEARS OF MOWSF
sf.citi is well aware of the value Meals on Wheels San Francisco adds to our local community. We wanted to know how sf.citi members and the broader tech ecosystem in San Francisco can continue to support MOWSF’s incredible work. Below are three ideas sf.citi and MOWSF came up with:
- Make MOWSF part of tech’s philanthropy agenda. Many sf.citi member companies already support the work of MOWSF by participating in the Adopt-A-Building and Emergency Kit Delivery programs. Looking ahead, McCumber would like to see these partnerships within the tech industry continue and deepen. He also hopes to see more tech leaders become advocates of San Francisco’s senior population. Learn about all MOWSF volunteer opportunities here.
I want more eyes and hearts and actions across thresholds of homebound seniors regardless of who serves them. This is the hidden area we don’t like to confront until we have to confront it. These partnerships are about acknowledging what already exists and finding ways for us all to lift each other.
— Ashley McCumber, CEO, Meals on Wheels San Francisco
- Fund the new MOWSF kitchen. MOWSF has already raised $36 million of the $41.5 million needed to build the new MOWSF kitchen. To complete the campaign, MOWSF is now calling upon the San Francisco tech industry to finance 5 percent—or about $2 million—of the kitchen’s total cost. sf.citi member Uber has stepped up to the challenge with a $250,000 donation. To join Uber in making the new MOWSF kitchen a reality, donate here or contact Michele Furlong at 415.343.1287.
- Provide skills-based volunteering. Known for innovation, the tech industry can help improve the MOWSF app and help the MOWSF team use technology to reimagine the logistics of delivering meals to seniors all over San Francisco. If you have a tech-powered idea for MOWSF, contact Kathy Stirling at kstirling@mowsf.org.
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Partnerships with organizations like Meals on Wheels San Francisco are core to sf.citi’s mission of channeling the power of the tech industry into making San Francisco a leader in both technological innovation and social responsibility. We celebrate all that MOWSF has accomplished over the last 50 years and are excited to help MOWSF do even more for San Francisco seniors in the next 50 years.
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