A nutritious diet is the cornerstone to maintaining health and quality of life. We serve a heart-healthy, no added salt, low-fat meal to ALL of our recipients. To see what is being served for Meals on Wheels, just click below…

May 2013 Main Menu

May 2013 Vegetarian Menu

May 2013 Weekend Menu

Now you have a CHOICE…

Chef Charles Lindner Strives for “Exceptional Food – Everyday”

In our on-going commitment to provide the best possible meals to the older adults of Sonoma County, we are pleased to have Chef Charles August Lindner IV in our kitchen! Chef Charles’ love of cooking was sparked early when his mother, after preparing a meal that was not well received by Charles and his brother, announced she would no longer be cooking and everyone was on their own! After several days, they realized she wasn’t kidding. Hungry, Charles crawled to the kitchen and proceeded to make his very first dish – a grilled cheese sandwich. “It was black as night, and every smoke detector in the house was going off, but I ate it and loved it!”

Through high school, Charles worked at any restaurant that would have him, many times for free. He found himself in the company of such greats as Wolfgang Puck at Spago and Patrick Haley, Executive Chef at the Four Seasons. Charles graduated from Northern Arizona University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management and the California Culinary Academy.

Charles comes to us from Corporate Chef in San Jose, where he oversaw close to 50 food service accounts for small to midsize companies, schools and community centers. His responsibilities included menus, staffing and logistics – always with an eye to keeping the menus fresh.

Chef Charles seeks to “make our food exceptional.” He explains, “This will mean new ways of cooking the food, maintaining the integrity of the dish and still allowing us to produce the quantities we need.”  The added responsibility of business development has prompted an entrepreneurial spirit in the kitchen. New programs are being introduced that will raise revenues to support the Meals on Wheels programs and offer new nutritional alternatives for clients and others in Sonoma County. A new Grab n Go meal program, Stagé, offers restaurant-quality entrees.  Click here for information about Stagé.

This is just the beginning of our commitment to providing the best possible meals to the older adults of Sonoma County. We are pleased to be the leader in this movement in senior nutrition programs and hope to offer our knowledge to other programs nationally.

About our Meals on Wheels program…

Since 1976, Council on Aging has operated the largest meal program for seniors in Sonoma County.

• From July 2011 through June 2012, Council on Aging served over 255,445 meals to approximately 3,390 seniors.
• The meals provide one third of the recommended dietary requirements for seniors.
• For many clients, it is their only meal of the day.

Council on Aging is committed to reducing food insecurity in the elderly. The commitment costs over a million dollars a year, with only 38% of the program being funded from government funding. We must rely on the support and generosity of the community to cover the remaining costs of the program.

The Meals on Wheels program is so much more than just a meal. The other benefits include:

• Helping seniors remain in their homes and out of institutionalized living, so that they can maintain their independence and happiness;
• A daily check-in by a caring driver who can alert loved ones to potential problems, falls, accidents, etc.;
• Special meals for those participants who require modification of their diets, such as frozen renal meals, vegetarian and no concentrated sweets;
• Availability of Nutritional Counseling by a registered dietitian. Click here to read From our Dietician a special, monthly article written by our Registered Dietitian.
• Access to referrals to the other programs operated by Council on Aging, including Social and Financial Services, Legal Services, Care and Case Management, Senior Peer Support, Adult Day Social Programs, and others; and,
• Helping seniors stay healthy, reducing costly acute hospital stays.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR 44 Frequently Asked Questions about Meals on Wheels

We are MOW, so no senior goes hungry.

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