Meals on Wheels is examining the possibility of building
Meals on Wheels in Peters Township is now examining the possibility of constructing a building to house its food-service operation because it can’t find an existing building that meets its needs.
Peters Township officials decided late last year not to renew the nonprofit’s lease on the 5,000 square feet of space it occupies in the township fire department, which has said it needs additional space for training and offices. Meals on Wheels’ lease expires in December 2017.
“We were looking at the Muse fire hall, but that is in the extreme western end of our service area,” said Susan Hanawalt, the organization’s executive director. Hanawalt’s organization also looked at 13 other relocation options, no one of which meet all of the organization’s needs.
Because Meals on Wheels needs a site that would be available from 5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday with ample parking for volunteers, the number of appropriate sites has been minimal. Meals on Wheels cooks and assembles more than 200 hot meals for senior citizens living in Peters and the surrounding areas.
Hanawalt said the construction of a new building would run around $300,000 – if they could get a donation of a half acre of land to build on.
“It makes a lot of sense,” Hanawalt said. When it does relocate, the group will bring a 10-burner stove, two convection ovens, a steamer and a walk-in cooler to save expenses.
Meals on Wheels has been at its current location since 2008, when it moved from St. David’s Episcopal Church in Venetia, Hanawalt said. It pays $4,000 a month in rent to the township for its space in the fire department building. The township has offered financial assistance to help fund relocation costs.
Hanawalt said when Meals on Wheels moved into its current location, a number of improvements had to be made to the space. All told, she said, lease hold improvements are $407,000. And even though it is not in the lease, Hanawalt said her organization is considering asking to be reimbursed for improvements made to the space.
Also, Meals on Wheels will be raising its rate. Hanawalt said it currently charges $20 for one hot meal a week, and $23 a week for one hot meal and one small meal. Beginning in April, those rates will be $25 and $30, she said.