Feed the Elderly: Our Mission and History
​
Feed the Elderly is an all-volunteer organization whose sole mission is to deliver a hot, nutritious lunch Monday - Friday to homebound and/or physically challenged people living in the Elkin and Jonesville communities in Northwest North Carolina.
​
Feed the Elderly was born in 1963 in the kitchen of Mrs. Ruby Bryan, a community organizer in Jonesville, NC, who began cooking and delivering meals to vulnerable, homebound people in her community. The need for her meal service quickly outgrew her kitchen’s capacity, so Mrs. Bryan reached out to Holly Neaves, a member of Elkin First United Methodist, who recruited other churches in the community to get involved. The organization was incorporated and received its tax exempt status in 1989.
​​
​Today Feed the Elderly delivers a hot lunch, prepared by Hugh Chatham Health, to fifty homebound people in Elkin and Jonesville. We also deliver on Thanksgiving and Christmas, if the holidays occur on a weekday. Many of our program participants are just as appreciative of the personal contact they receive from Feed the Elderly volunteers, as they are for the meal. There is no charge to our participants for their meals, although we are always grateful to receive donations from their family and friends. Some participants do pay a portion of the meal cost, but that is completely voluntary and not required.​
Meals are delivered by over 100 volunteers from the following area churches:
Elkin First Baptist, Elkin First United Methodist, Elkin Presbyterian, Elkin Valley Baptist, Galloway Episcopal, St. Stephen’s Catholic,
Jonesville Pentecostal Holiness, Maple Springs First United Methodist, Pleasant Hill Baptist.
​
Feed the Elderly is deeply grateful for generous support received from the Yadkin Valley United Fund, The Chatham Foundation, and the Elkin Funds of the Winston-Salem Foundation
​
Our Foundress, Ruby Bryan
The Elkin-Jonesville community of North Carolina owes a tremendous debt of gratitutde to "Grandmother Ruby", whose vision and compassion inspired her to begin cooking and serving meals for those in need. Feed the Elderly honors her memory and legacy by continuing to provide meals for the past sixty two years.
Need a Meal?
You may qualify to receive meals from Feed the Elderly if you live in Elkin or Jonesville, NC, or within a five mile radius of Hugh Chatham Health, and are homebound and/or physically challenged.
​
There is no charge for the meals, although Feed the Elderly always appreciates donations from you, your friends and family members.
If you or someone you know could benefit from receiving meals, please contact us.
Get Involved with Feed the Elderly
Shine your light and love into our community
Donate
Feed the Elderly does not charge our participants for their meals, so we rely on donations for 100% of our operating expenses.
Ninety-eight percent of your donation goes directly to the cost of providing meals for homebound individuals.
​
Consider these levels of giving:
Provide lunch for 1 person for 1 week: $12.25
Provide lunch for 1 person for 2 weeks: $24.50
Provide lunch for 1 person for 3 weeks: $36.75
Provide lunch for 1 person for 1 month: $49.00
Provide lunch for 1 person for 1 year: $637.00​
​
You can donate by clicking the button below,
or by mailing a check to Feed the Elderly at
P. O. Box 125, Elkin, NC 28621
Volunteer
Feed the Elderly is an all-volunteer organization.
Our program would not exist without volunteers to deliver meals.
We love and deeply appreciate over 100 volunteers, and we would LOVE to have you join us in this ministry!
​
We currently have delivery teams from nine local churches.
Each team delivers meals approximately seven times during
the year, at 6 - 7 week intervals.
​
Delivering meals to our participants is a tremendously rewarding and meaningful experience for our volunteers, many of whom have been delivering meals for 5+ years.
​
If your church would like to form a delivery team, or if you would personally like to join one of our existing delivery teams, please contact us for more information about how to get involved!