TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Elder Care Services is breaking ground Wednesday on a long-awaited expansion that will enable it to renovate its kitchen and deliver Meals on Wheels to hundreds more seniors.
The project has a $1.2 million price tag.
Construction will soon begin on a bigger, better kitchen at Elder Care Services.(WCTV)
Meals on Wheels volunteers who arrive each morning to pack up hot and cold meals for seniors on their routes are excited about a bigger, better kitchen coming soon.
“It’s going to give them a lot more capacity here at Elder Care Services to be able to make all of these meals,” said Meals on Wheels volunteer Kim Hinckley. “We serve so many people in the community.”
Meals on Wheels volunteer Kim Hinckley loads up hot and cold meals for seniors on her route.(WCTV)
The cramped kitchen and the team who works there have been churning out hundreds of meals for decades.
“Things are full steam ahead for our Meals on Wheels kitchen renovation,” Elder Care Services CEO Jocelyne Fliger said. “We will be expanding our kitchen footprint and renovating a space that has not been renovated in a very long time.”
Construction on a new 1,000 foot kitchen expansion at Elder Care Services should be complete in Spring of 2027.(WCTV)
The 1,000-foot expansion will not only add space, but also a better layout, new equipment, and, most importantly, the potential to make hundreds more meals a day.
Fliger said they’re hoping it can significantly reduce the current Meals on Wheels waiting list.
“At one time it was over 500 and we’ve been trying to chip away at that and we’re hoping that with this expanded footprint we’ll be able to reduce it even further,” she said.
Meals on Wheels deliveries will continue uninterrupted during construction thanks to Lively Technical College just down the street.
Lively Technical College is sharing its commercial kitchen while construction at Elder Care Services is underway.(WCTV)
Lively’s culinary program is sharing its commercial kitchen while construction is underway, starting the first week in November.
“It’s just to help. Really just to help the community. We have the opportunity. We have the space,” Lively Culinary Instructor Charles DiBella said.
“We are happy and honored to support this,” said Lively Technical College Director BJ Van Camp. “They will prepare all their meals and food, but hopefully our students will be able to see another opportunity in the industry to be employed and to give back locally.”
Construction of the new kitchen at Elder Care Services is expected to be complete next spring.
Meals on Wheels deliveries will continue without interruption during construction.(WCTV)
Seniors who count on Meals on Wheels in the meantime will continue to receive daily deliveries of food and friendship.
“And how badly do they need this assistance? More than you know, more than you know,” said Meals on Wheels volunteer Kim Hinckley. “For some of them it’s the only meal they get in a day, so it’s a blessing.”
The renovations are expected to cost $1.2 million. Most of it, $990,000, was appropriated by the Florida legislature last year, but Elder Care Services is still working to raise the rest through donations.
Elder Care Services’ offices will remain open during construction.(WCTV)
While Meals on Wheels operations are moving temporarily, Elder Care Services’ offices will remain open during construction to serve clients at the West Tennessee Street location.
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