A local outreach program is celebrating it’s 48th anniversary this year.
The Doorbell Dinners is a joint venture between Passavant Area Hospital, The Prairie Counsel on Aging, and Church united Women in the Jacksonville area.
Director of Volunteers at Passavant Area Hospital, Jan Fellhauer describes the program as a joint mission.
“Doorbell Dinners is a program that was started over 48 years ago, with the Church Women United Jacksonville volunteers, the Prairie Counsel on Aging and Passavant Area Hospital. It’s kind of a triangle and we work together as a team. We provide a warm meal at noon and a sack lunch for the evening for people who are on special diets or who cannot prepare their own food at home.”
More than 16,300 deliveries were made during the past year to people in this situation. Passavant recently hosted the annual meeting where representatives from the Jacksonville churches gather to coordinate the efforts for the new year.
Fellhauer said that after a physician prescribes a specific diet to a patient, that person can benefit from the Doorbell Dinners program.
“It does require a doctors order to be on Doorbell Dinners. The Prairie Counsel on Aging takes the application and does all the paperwork, then gives that information to us at the hospital. We arrange all five routes and prepare all the food, and then the Church Women United volunteers deliver the food. It’s five days a week, year round. There are no meals on Saturday and Sunday, but again they do get the hot meal at noon and a sack lunch for the evening.”
For more information on Doorbell Dinners, or to apply for the program, contact the Prairie Counsel on Aging, located at 800 W. State St, Jacksonville, by calling 479-4619 or toll free at 1-800-862-4464