Keeping fees the same in the face of inflation

From global supply chain issues to major world events, daily essentials like food and gasoline prices have been on the rise. We have all felt the impact of these increases in our personal lives, and at Calgary Meals on Wheels, we’ve felt it too. Our service of prepared meals and delivery has been significantly affected by the inflation occurring in these areas in 2022. As you can imagine, one of the largest operational expenses we incur is the cost of food, and gas is not too far behind. With the number of our prepared meals reaching nearly 1,000,000 in 2021, the scale of this impact for us is enormous. Each year, we budget responsibly for inflation, but we did not expect the estimated 15% increase that our food providers are projecting, or the 51% increase we have seen in fuel costs compared to last year.

Our production team has also been hard at work to fight off the supply chain disruption. From diced vegetables to proteins, every week there is something that is out of stock. To make sure that we are able to produce the meals, our production team has started ordering the raw ingredients and preparing them in-house when necessary. However, this process is resource-intensive and has put the team in a challenging spot.

“What was a twenty-minute process is now becoming a two-hour process and it has really slowed us down.”

Mark Napin CMOW Executive Chef

When faced with all these challenges it just means we must work harder and look to the community for additional support so that none of our increased expenses are seen on the client’s end. Approximately 80% of our daily clients access our prepared meals due to financial challenges. And we are doing our absolute best to ensure they are food secure by offering our service at a price that is afforded to them. It is the gifts we receive from you, our donors, and the volunteers who give their time to deliver, that make our meals affordable and accessible. Consider a gift to Calgary Meals on Wheels today so we continue to support our clients’ nutritional needs.