Lee’s Summit Meals on Wheels delivers food with a side of loving care

A little before 11 a.m. each weekday, a team of around 15 volunteers is dispatched throughout the Lee’s Summit area, their vehicles loaded with nutritionally balanced meals. These hot lunches — priced at just $3.75 — are at the heart of Lee’s Summit Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit providing meals for anyone who is unable to prepare food at home.

“Our purpose is to provide meals for those who can’t get out,” said Mike Gann, a longtime volunteer and Meals on Wheels Board member. “As important as that is, maybe even more important is that we have contact with these people. We go to the door, ask how are you, how are you doing, you look them in the eyes, they can talk to you about their ills, whether they are feeling good that day.”

Many of the Meals on Wheels clients may go an entire day and never see or speak to anyone, Gann said. “It can sometimes be even several days or a week.”

Nationally, one in three senior citizens reports feeling lonely, and one in four lives alone, said Jenni Edwards, Lee’s Summit Meals on Wheels operations director and the nonprofit’s first and only paid employee, hired in 2021.

The local organization was created in 1974 by two Lee’s Summit residents, Lois Elbel and Linda Dempsey, after they saw friends and neighbors who were unable to shop or prepare meals for themselves, significantly impacting their quality of life. The small, all-volunteer organization started with just 15 clients but has grown steadily over the years to meet increasing needs. The nonprofit’s approximately 150 volunteers now prepare and deliver meals to around 140 clients each week.

During any given week, Edward said the volunteers will deliver close to 600 meals to clients residing within the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District borders, including Lee’s Summit, Greenwood, Lake Lotawana and Lake Winnebago.

Since its inception, the local organization has partnered with Lee’s Summit Medical Center to prepare nutritionally balanced meals that also accommodate special diets.

“We are so grateful for the partnership with Lee’s Summit Medical Center,” Gann said. “What makes us special is that we can cater to different dietary needs.”

These include menus such as diabetic, gluten free, vegetarian or pureed food. They will even cut up meat for clients unable to do so, he said. To ensure variety, the menu features a 15-meal rotation.

“I think our clients really like that part plus the meals are really affordable and the food is good,” Gann added.

Lee’s Summit Meals on Wheels is funded by private grants and donations, receiving no federal funding. This support keeps the cost for clients at $3.75 per meal, although the organization also offers a subsidy program for those unable to pay. Over the past five decades, the nonprofit has delivered more than 600,000 meals.

Most clients receive five deliveries a week, although they can request fewer meals or get an extra meal delivered on Friday for the weekend. All are delivered by volunteers who normally have the same route and see the same clients on a regular basis. This familiarity benefits the clients socially and emotionally while also helping the drivers spot any potential concerns during drop-off time.

The drivers have alerted family or medical professionals about issues such as clients who have fallen or who were unable to get out of the bathtub.

Gann remembers one client he became well acquainted with during deliveries. The client rarely saw others, and both men would chat as Gann dropped off the food.

“When you see them every week, you know their demeanor, you know how they’re feeling and everybody will tell you about their ups and downs,” he said. “One day he came to the door and I could tell something was off.”

Drivers are trained to contact Edwards when they have a concern, and she immediately reached out to the man’s emergency contact.

“As it turns out, he had a stroke,” Gann said. “There’s so many stories like that.”

Edwards recalled a veteran who qualified for the subsidized meal program when he moved into the area. After receiving meals for some time, he called Edwards to tell her that he wouldn’t need the deliveries for a while.

“He was going out of town for a family reunion to see family he hadn’t seen in years and grandkids he hadn’t seen in years,” she said. “And he was just thrilled to be able to see his family and said it’s because of you guys bringing me food everyday. That’s the reason he’s able to even fly to go visit them.”

Edwards told the story of another longtime client who lived near Lake Lotawana. After the client passed away, her family contacted the nonprofit.

“Her granddaughter called us to let us know and to say, ‘I’m so grateful to you because my grandma’s goal was to stay in her home and she was able to do that partially because of you,’” Edwards said. “And that is what we want to be for people, so that they can stay in their home if able.”

For Gann, volunteering for Meals on Wheels after retiring has been a rewarding experience that’s kept him involved in the organization for 13 years.

“Everybody thinks, isn’t this a great thing you are doing. And I tell them it’s really more for me. Even to this day after this many years, after I get done with my route, I feel good. Because you really feel like you helped out,” he said.

“What happens in this whole thing that I didn’t expect is you become friends with the people because you have the same route pretty much every week.”

For information about donating to, volunteering with or receiving meals through Meals on Wheels, visit the website or call 816-743-4400.

This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM.