There are people in our community who are unable to cook or shop for themselves and would be unable to live independently in their own home if it wasn’t for the work of MOW.

No, MOW is an incorporated body run by a volunteer Board. 80% of our funding comes from meal sales and the remaining 20% comes from Home and Community Care, a joint Federal and State program.

Anybody who has an identified need because they cannot reasonably prepare or shop for food is eligible. The service is provided to frail aged, persons with a disability, people recovering from surgery and carers. The service is not means tested as is based on need.

Once a referral to our service has been received, an Assessment Officer visits the person requesting the service, usually the following day. Once it is established that the service is suitable, and the paperwork has been completed, the service can usually start the following day.

Ring Central office on 82718700 and one of our staff can assist you over the phone.  You can fax in your details to 8271 8101 or speak to your doctor, community health nurse or other health professional who can help you with the process. If you live in the country our Central office staff will be able to assist you with local information. Click here to lodge a referral.

About 70% of our meals are produced through our 31 fresh cook kitchens (90% of which are in the broader Adelaide urban area). 20% are sourced through hospital based branches. Both the fresh cook kitchens and hospital-based branches are run entirely by volunteers. The remaining 10% of meals are produced at our Kent Town Cook Chill facility, which is run by paid staff. These cook-chill meals are sent to several smaller metropolitan cook-chill branches where they are re-heated and delivered to recipients by volunteers.

Sometimes people are recovering from surgery and only need MOW for a few weeks. MOW is happy to provide the service for you but it must be for at least 5 days. A review will then be conducted to establish if the meals are still needed.Sometimes people are recovering from surgery and only need MOW for a few weeks. MOW is happy to provide the service for you but it must be for at least 5 days. A review will then be conducted to establish if the meals are still needed.

MOW is a 5-day service, Monday to Friday. We provide a hot lunchtime meal to people who are unable to cook or shop for themselves. MOW wants to ensure people are catered for on a daily basis so meal deliveries can only be reduced if there are other services being provided e.g. lunch at a Day Centre or through other support.

MOW has produced a Healthy Eating booklet, which can provide you with other hints and tips for easy to prepare meals. You can discuss your situation with the Assessment Officer when they visit; as there may be other options that they can suggest e.g. council shopping service.

MOW is unable to cater for likes or dislikes because there are so many variations. We do have the ability to provide

• Standard meal
• Soft meal
• Cut up (for people with bad arthritis or broken arm)
• Extra boost (High energy for people who need a nutritional boost)
• Vegetarian
• No spices

MOW has the ability to provide a selection of special diets but this can only be done on medical need, with a referral from the doctor. Depending on availability special diets may take 3-5 days to arrange with the local Branch.

Yes, we do provide texture modified meals in two consistencies – minced / moist and smooth pureed (previously know as vitamised). A referral from a speech pathologist is necessary.

MOW method of payment is by direct debit. The person who comes to do the assessment will provide all the necessary information to enable this to take place. Bank details are kept strictly confidential and all of our meals are paid for in this manner. The cost is $6.50 per meal of soup, main course, and dessert. A security payment is also required which is two times the weekly cost of meals.

For the safety of our volunteers and convenience for clients, direct debit is the only method of payment available. Over 5,000 people already pay for their meals in this way.

MOW has dedicated volunteers who give their time and, in the case of the deliverers, the use of their own car, to enable MOW to keep the cost of the service to a minimum.

Click here to for more info

The local Branch needs 24 hours notice to cancel your meal if you are not going to be home to receive it. A call can be made to our Central office on 82718700 if the Branch is not attended at the time you call. Clients are not charged for the meal if they let the Branch know in advance.

MOW must ensure that the meal is delivered safely and within health regulation time frames. Our deliverers also ensure that you are alright when they visit and of course this cannot be done if the meal is not given directly to our clients. We do not leave meals in an esky.

MOW doesn’t provide smaller serves as an option because the three-course meal accounts for a little over a third of an elderly person’s nutritional and energy requirements. We recommend eating the meal completely when it is delivered hot but if you cannot eat the whole meal then perhaps the dessert could be eaten later in the day e.g. for afternoon tea?

MOW does not suggest splitting the meal but if that is done at anytime we recommend supplementing the meal by having other food e.g. a toasted sandwich with the soup, a bread roll with the main course, or any of the other meals as suggested by our ‘Healthy Eating Guide’ provided at Assessment.