Meals on Wheels Incline Village Expansion
February 25, 2025 | Member Submitted
Sierra Senior Services (SSS) was formed in 2001 out of a service club project in Truckee to bring Meals on Wheels (MOW) to our region. The program has grown steadily over the years to include Truckee, Kings Beach, Tahoe City, the West Shore, Olympic Valley, and Incline Village and Crystal Bay. SSS operates a commercial kitchen and congregate dining site in Truckee which will produce over 45,000 fresh, nutritionally balanced meals this year.
The MOW program expanded to Incline Village and Crystal Bay in June 2013 with 3 initial participants. It has continued to grow and hit a new peak on February 18, 2025 of 22 active participants (probably over 200 people helped over the years). We will be splitting Incline Village into 2 dedicated routes starting Tuesday, March 11, 2025. SSS has received a vehicle donation for the expansion, but needs to increase its volunteer driver base for Incline Village and Crystal Bay from 8 to 15 as quickly as possible.
The role of an Incline Village/ Crystal Bay volunteer driver looks like this:
1) Arrive at the Village Church parking lot at 11:15 AM
2) Enter the combination on the lockbox on the tree to access the MOW car key
3) Enter your information and beginning mileage on the car’s mileage log clipboard
4) Drive to Kings Beach meeting point to exchange empty ice chest, hot bags, and route binder for current day’s food and route binder.
5) Use paper route binder or the electronic phone AP routing software to deliver the specified meals to 8-15 participant’s homes (food is generally received by participants at their front doors with exchange of greetings and determination that everything seems good).
6) Deliveries and paperwork are usually completed by 1:15 PM and you can enjoy the free lunch provided to volunteers.
Most volunteer drivers find the experience very rewarding and often couples work as a team. Volunteers usually drive the same day each week or fill in open days as needed. The SSS staff is responsible for filling the shifts Tuesday through Friday (with frozen meals available for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday delivered on Friday) so volunteers are free to pick the days they drive.
More information about Sierra Senior Services and a volunteer application can be found at : sierraseniors.org or by contacting Lorena at 530-550-7600 to arrange an informational ride along. Volunteer drivers must be fingerprinted for senior safety and will be trained by SSS.
This program has helped many of your friends, neighbors, and members over the years. Please help us find additional volunteer drivers so we can continue to offer the same quality program and have capacity to serve our growing senior population.