Mission and History
Our Mission
To enrich the lives of older (60+) and homebound adults in South Metro Denver by providing nutritious meals and services that promote dignity, well-being, and independence.
Delivering so much more than just a meal...
Nourish Meals On Wheels has transitioned from a “home grown” community program to a well-established, successful nonprofit without sacrificing the personal touch our founder extolled.
What sets Nourish apart is the meaningful connection we develop with our clients. Our volunteers are the familiar faces that keep loneliness at bay and create a sense of belonging.
Nourish is...
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more than 200,000 meals delivered last year.
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a warm smile on a chilly day.
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a joyful moment of birthday cheer.
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a handmade holiday card.
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a treat for a much-loved pet.
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the knowledge that our community cares.
For many of our clients, a visit from a volunteer is the only human contact they will receive that day. Part of aging with dignity is being able to eat food that you truly love while supporting your health and wellbeing. We are proud to serve delicious, scratch-made food that nourishes body, mind, and spirit!
Nourish Meals On Wheels is a privately funded, 4-Star Charity and a member of Meals on Wheels of America. We rely on the community for financial and volunteer support and do not accept any direct federal government funding.
...For 50 years and counting in Littleton, Colorado
2024
This year we are expanding our partnership with Aging Resources of Douglas County and have added seven routes extending meal delivery programming to clients residing in Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker and Castle Rock.
2023
A record-breaking year, our team prepared and delivered over 200,000 meals (201,707) for the first time in a single year!
2021
In the summer of 2021, our weekly breakfast program was launched, delivering more than 3,000 breakfasts to clients each month.
2020
We embraced the opportunity to purchase a permanent home at the former Las Delicias restaurant, allowing us to extend services to the South-Metro Denver Area. Humbled by the support of the community, we were able to raise $2 Million dollars in less than two years to pay for necessary renovations and the building itself.
On February 1, 2020 the organization adopted the new name, Nourish Meals on Wheels, and began operating in our current facility.
Executive Chef, Geoffrey Groditski, joined our staff in April 2020, quickly elevating the meals we deliver using his creativity to expand the menu and preparing everything from scratch daily.
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2019
In November of 2018, the passing of the school bond meant that Ames would be returning to it's original purpose as an elementary school. That meant TLC Meals on Wheels needed to find a new locations to continue operations.
2009-2019
Littleton Public Schools invited the now renamed TLC Meals on Wheels organization to use the recently repurposed Ames Elementary School's larger kitchen and classroom space to continue expanding the capacity deliver nutritious meals to the community.
1975-2009
Partnering with the Littleton Housing Authority, Town of Littleton Cares Meals on Wheels moves operations into the newly constructed Bradley House, and continued preparing meals here for 34 years.
Pictured: Virginia Baker, Director, and volunteers Erma Hall (left) and Annabell Hill (right) prepare meals at Bradley House.
Credit: Denver Post via Getty Images
1971-1975
As the organization grew, it was officially incorporated as Town of Littleton Cares, and operated out of the kitchen and dining room of Littleton First Presbyterian Church.
1968
Our organization's founder, Virginia C. Baker (pictured on right), recognized the need to help her struggling neighbors in Littleton, Colorado. She began preparing meals in her home kitchen and delivering them herself.
1954
The first known U.S. delivery of Meals on Wheels - A social worker, Margaret Toy, pioneered a program, leading a small group of citizens in Philadelphia that began delivering meals to support their aging neighbors. Many of these volunteers were called "Platter Angels"
1940-1943
During the German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, referred to as the "Blitz," thousands of people lost their homes and had no way to cook meals. The Women's Volunteer Service of Great Britain started cooking meals and delivering them to people who needed them.
Women would deliver meals and refreshments to people and soldiers using baby carriages, carts, bicycles with baskets, and using cars, which is when the name "Meals on Wheels" was coined.
The first meal delivery was in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire England in 1943.
