Our Partners
We work in partnership with local agencies such as the Community Food Connection of Blount County, Second Harvest, United Way of Blount County, local farmers and Feeding America to provide food to not only the participants of the Smoky Mountain Meals on Wheels program, but also to individuals being served under other programs within our agency, those referred to us by other agencies who serve the low-income/disabled with Blount County and/or those with food insecurities who come into our office.
Our participation with these partners varies. At Community Food Connection, we pick up groceries twice a month to help supplement our RAMP participants with staple groceries. These clients are unable to get to the grocery store, have a limited income, etc.
We order raw food from Second Harvest weekly. This enables us to purchase food at a reduced rate, thus allowing us to serve more clients with the same amount of funding.
Feeding America delivers donated items from local grocers and farms. This allows us to reach out to those with food insecurities, whether they are a client of ours, another program within our agency and/or referred here by another agency.
United Way Of Blount County - United Way of Blount County supports MOW through funding, valuable partnerships and important resources. Their support allows us to catch many elderly that may fall through the cracks and offers a safety net for basic care .
In addition, the caring residents and business people of Blount County, through their generous donations, have allowed us to place emergency meals in the homes of any Blount County seniors who are facing a personal food shortage, especially during inclement weather. Last year we made and distributed over 2,500 emergency meals. We appreciate the grants received from Wal-Mart for our program and also from Banfield Charitable Trust for the care of our seniors' pets.
Blount County Schools - The William Blount High School Culinary program supports MOW through hands on work. The students help by processing produce, cooking meats, and preparing casseroles for the distribution of meals for our frozen meal program. The students also held a chili cook-off at the kick-off basketball season in 2018 donating all proceeds to MOW.
Blount County Friends of the Library Book Club - BCFOL brings the library to our seniors. Interested seniors receiving MOW can sign up to have books delivered to their homes. They supply preferences and our BCFOL pulls the books and our volunteer drivers deliver them to their doorsteps.
Blount County Sheriff's Office Senior Outreach Program- Founded in 2002, Sherriff’s Outreach supplies support to the community and MOW to seniors who are in immediate need or danger. BCSO assesses the situation and pulls in the community’s resources to help our elderly.
