The Lutheran Service Society of Western PA (LSS) will sponsor “Keep the Wheels Rolling” for Meals On Wheels, Wednesday, September 18, 2002 from 8am to 6pm. Meals On Wheels volunteers will be stationed throughout the region, at assorted road intersections and near a variety of stores and banks, to distribute information and seek support for this important service. The volunteers will each be wearing a fluorescent vest clearly marked with the LSS Meals On Wheels logo. Last year, this volunteer-driven program delivered 2.2 million meals to more than 8,000 frail elderly and disabled persons throughout Western PA. LSS is affiliated with 79 community-based Meals On Wheels programs, 44 of which are located within Allegheny County, and all depend heavily on the generosity of the public for operational support. The agency receives partial funding for 34 of these programs from the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging. The United Ways of Allegheny and Beaver Counties also provide a small grant to support Meals On Wheels. “Our volunteers deliver so much more than the meals,” remarked Jan Wagner, LSS Food Service Supervisor. “It is the daily contact with the volunteer that is a veritable lifeline for the homebound persons we serve. With this event (“Keep the Wheels Rolling”) we hope to not only raise some much needed funds, but also recruit more volunteers to the program.” One of the oldest such programs in the nation, the LSS Meals On Wheels program will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2003. From its humble beginnings on the city’s North Side in 1968, serving 17 persons, the program has become a flourishing and indispensable service for thousands of elderly and disabled persons throughout Western PA. For more information, please call LSS Meals On Wheels at 412-734-9330 or e-mail mowsc@lsswpa.org.

Sponsored by LSS Meals on Wheels.

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