Meals on Wheels opened a new headquarters and nutrition site in Manchester last week that will serve 31 cities and towns across Hillsborough County to address rising food insecurity in New Hampshire. According to the organization, the number of participants in need of food doubled from 2022 to 2023.
In 2023, the organization fed around 4,100 people in New Hampshire, providing them with home-delivered food daily, community dining, and voucher programs — totaling around 380,000 meals. According to a survey conducted by Meal on Wheels in Hillsborough County, for around 65% of these participants, the interaction with the meal delivery driver is the only human contact they have each day.
Zach Paone, development director of the county’s Meals on Wheels, says he is excited about the potential the new location brings to reduce costs while keeping up with the challenges of the rising demand for food in the area.
“We have more people than ever signing up for service right now,” said Paone.
The organization has been paying 15% more per meal since the pandemic, but Paone says the large space will allow them to control the supply chain using a single vendor from Maine who will make one delivery instead of five. They are also reducing costs by sourcing food from New Hampshire farms and not from farms in the Midwest, as they were a few years ago.
He says 70% of each meal is financed by the state, with the rest by fundraisers.
The building located on South Main Street in Manchester was home to an ice cream shop and a restaurant that had to close its doors. Paone says they are lucky to have found a place with ample kitchen and dining space, but due to lack of funding, they will use the location only as office space and a warehouse for now.
“[The goal] over the next couple of years is to open [it] up as a community dining place,” he said. “The future is bright.”
Paone says the city of Manchester is currently reviewing an application to help fund more programs to feed more people as well as promote socialization among seniors, such as dinners or gatherings.
At the moment there aren’t any programs in place that promote socialization among non-English speakers who find it difficult to find these opportunities, but they have hired a person who speaks Spanish in case someone needs information.
Click here to sign up or volunteer at Meals on Wheels of Hillsborough
