Pittsburgh-area Meals on Wheels in limbo while Giant Eagle updates its donation process
A local nonprofit that relies on donations from the community and volunteers to serve its customers is in limbo after learning one of its major suppliers may not provide food anymore.
Meals on Wheels in Elizabeth Forward is celebrating 47 years this week of serving its community and addressing senior hunger. The nonprofit believed they weren't going to be getting bread and baked goods from Giant Eagle anymore, but the company says it's a misunderstanding.
Elizabeth Fowrward Meals on Wheels coordinator Karen Prescott told KDKA-TV on Tuesday that she believes donations will continue, but it's unclear how often or how much food they will receive.
"Right now, we don't know. I would like to see it in writing, telling me that we will, on this particular day of the week, be receiving items from them, because what they don't give to those others who are nonprofit simply go in the garbage," Prescott said.
KDKA-TV reached out to Giant Eagle, which sent us a statement saying, "I can confirm that this was a misunderstanding, and we have reached out to the Meals on Wheels team to discuss next steps. We are updating our donation process for our Elizabeth Giant Eagle, and as part of that process we are working to properly onboard all existing partners, including Elizabeth Meals on Wheels, to ensure they are part of our donation network. This allows us to maintain food safety practices and track donations."
Meals on Wheels says it's an important part of the community
Prescott said the nonprofit is an important part of the community.
"The thing is, Meals on Wheels is a little bit more than just dropping off a meal. You know, we're not the Pizza Hut or whatever. No, we go, knock on the door. They know us. We know them. We check on them to make sure they're okay. If they need help with anything, we do that," said Prescott.
On Monday, during deliveries, Prescott said she got a call from a volunteer who was picking up bread and baked goods from Giant Eagle in Elizabeth, who said the store would no longer be able to provide food.
"When one of our runners who picks up the extra items that are down at the Giant Eagle in Elizabeth came back, she only had a box, which normally we have a number of boxes, and even bags of stuff. But she came back with one small box. It had about six items in it and she said to me that she was told that that would be the last day that they would be able to supply us with anything," Prescott said.
Prescott said they weren't given any reason to why the store couldn't provide the food anymore.
Prescott posted on the Meals on Wheels Elizabeth Forward Facebook page on Monday night to inform its customers about possible changes in price due to the notice from Giant Eagle.
"The corporate office of Giant Eagle has informed us that the Giant Eagle in Elizabeth can no longer supply us with the bread and bake goods they take off their shelf in the morning marked with a sell by date for the day before that we use that morning in lunches for feeding the elderly in our community. We knew that the cutting off funds to non profits would eventually affect us even though we do not receive government funds, but this came a little sooner than we thought it would. We had been noticing that we were receiving less and less each week, but thought they were just making less and less because people were spending their money on basics not sweet treats. This is going to really affect our budget. We have watched our budget go from $5000 to $7000 every five to six weeks for food this year, but if we are to continue to serve the communities we have been serving we are looking at raising prices," Prescott wrote on the post.
"It's a write off for them. It was not hurting corporate at all, but it was definitely going to be hurting us," Prescott told KDKA-TV on Tuesday.
Prescott said Meals on Wheels in Elizabeth Forward provides meals every day to about 90 customers throughout Elizabeth, Elrama, Jefferson Hills, parts of Finleyville and Clairton.
"Every day our clients get a bag lunch which has a sandwich in it, usually a piece of fruit, sometimes some juice in there, sometimes a little bit of cereal will be in there a couple times a week. And then they get a treat, some kind of a dessert. And usually the baked stuff was coming out of the Giant Eagle in Elizabeth, which is stuff that they cannot sell any longer, because it's beyond the sell date," Prescott said. "The community would really be hurting without us."
Less than 24 hours later, though, Prescott said Meals on Wheels got another call from Giant Eagle stating there was a misunderstanding. Now the nonprofit it trying to figure out how often and how much food it'll receive.
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