LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – People across Lubbock and Wolfforth recently received notices in the mail asking for donations to Meals on Wheels of America (MOWA).
These claim donations to the program help feed seniors not just in the cities, but across the country. However, Lubbock Meals on Wheels officials explain any funds given to MOWA doesn’t actually go toward the South Plains or to providing meals.
The national organization for Meals on Wheels is apologizing to donors after sending requests for donations in an area that has a local chapter.(KCBD Photo)
Lisa Gilliland, the Executive Director of Lubbock Meals on Wheels, says MOWA is a lobbying group focused on gaining government funds. The Lubbock nonprofit pays a fee to be considered a member of the organization to suppress the national solicitations to the Lubbock service area. MOWA claims a “human mistake” led to the nationwide slip up.
“We are not happy that they’ve made this kind of colossal mistake, and are not being transparent with donors,” Gilliland said.
Lubbock Meals on Wheels says no notice was given to the nonprofit. Instead, the solicitations were received by an unknown number of people, including a donor, volunteer, and representative on the board of Lubbock Meals on Wheels. Gilliland said she immediately reported the transgression.
“We were one of the first programs to alert them (MOWA) to the issue, that clearly a mistake was made in their mailing,” Gilliland said. “I really don’t understand how they could make a mistake of that magnitude and not realize it.”
Gilliland estimates thousands of notices were mailed out across the country.
She says a good way for people to know the difference between nonprofits and the exact organization they’re donating to is to look at the logo, address, and the signed name.
Gilliland advises for local solicitations the Lubbock Meals on Wheels logo will be clearly seen, as well as the address: 2304 34th St, Lubbock, Texas.
To help serve meals to homebound, elderly, or disabled neighbors, you can donate here or volunteer with the Lubbock Meals on Wheels.
“Right now, we deliver over a thousand meals a day to people – a hot lunch, 860 of them receive breakfast three days a week, and 675 of them receive weekend meals,” Gilliland said.
Gilliland estimates that number will skyrocket as winter settles in and the holidays approach.
Delivering meals takes about an hour a day, but people can also volunteer in the front office, kitchen, or with other programs.
KCBD reached out to MOWA for clarification on the local solicitations. We received this response:
“Meals on Wheels America engages in direct mail fundraising to support its efforts to be a national leader, advocate and voice for local Meals on Wheels providers. While there is no formal agreement between Meals on Wheels America and its membership of local senior nutrition providers regarding its direct mail efforts, Meals on Wheels America has proactively and transparently taken measures over the eight years of the program to avoid donor confusion and impact on local fundraising efforts. This is done by suppressing our members’ service area zip codes so that solicitations to acquire new donors are not sent into the communities where our members are operating. In addition, we allow members to submit their donor files through a third-party vendor to ensure we do not send mail to any of their existing donors, even those who may reside outside of their service area.
Unfortunately, our Direct Mail vendor failed to suppress the zip codes corresponding to our member service areas for the recent October acquisition campaign. Due to this human error, some individuals within member service areas received this national appeal focused on protecting the Meals on Wheels network’s primary source of federal funding.
We recognize the importance of protecting local fundraising efforts and maintaining the trust of donors who support Meals on Wheels in their communities. To remedy this situation, all funds generated through this specific mailing will be directed to the member organization(s) serving the corresponding donor zip codes as soon as possible. Additionally, we will share the donor contact information associated with those gifts so that the organization(s) can add them to their donor file and appropriately steward those relationships moving forward. Meals on Wheels America will not continue to contact any of these donors.
We take this situation very seriously and are actively evaluating our vendor relationship to ensure this type of error does not happen again. We sincerely apologize for this error and are working to resolve this matter quickly and transparently.”
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