Volunteer delivering meals

Deliver Nutrition and Independence

Looking for volunteer opportunities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area that truly make a difference? Consider volunteering with Meals on Wheels. Deliver meals during the lunch hour and know that you’re helping provide nutritious food and social connection to your neighbors.

Sign up to volunteer!
  • Meal delivery

    Deliver Meals

    Dedicate your lunch hour to making your neighbors’ day by delivering meals.

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  • Kitchen icon

    Volunteer at the Kitchen

    Help with the packaging and preparation of meals for your neighbors by picking up a 2-hour shift at our kitchen.

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  • Calendar

    Participate in an Event

    Check out our events calendar for events supporting Meals on Wheels.

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  • Sign up icon

    Sign Up to Volunteer

    Ready to get started as a volunteer? Simply complete a short form to help us get you to the right place.

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  • Helping hands

    Other Ways to Get Involved

    Make placemats, decorate bags or make birthday cards for meal recipients. Or host a fundraiser to support Meals on Wheels.

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    Sign Up for Our Newsletter

    Get updates on events, volunteer opportunities and other Meals on Wheels news.

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Deliver Meals

Delivering meals is a simple and rewarding way to support seniors and people with disabilities who rely on nutritious meals and a daily visit from a friendly face. Just sign up, and you’ll be connected with your local Meals on Wheels program to get started.

By volunteering during your lunch hour, you’ll help ensure thousands of meals are delivered across the Twin Cities metro area. You can choose to deliver meals once a week, once a month, with a friend, in a group, or on your own—whatever fits your schedule! No matter how you choose to volunteer, you’ll experience the satisfaction of knowing that the people on your route received both the nourishment and personal connection they need.

If you have questions, see the list of frequently asked questions, email Kala at kala@meals-on-wheels.com or call (612) 623-3363 for more information.

Sign Up to Deliver Meals

FAQs for Individual Volunteers

Fill out the online volunteer form or call us at (612) 623-3363 and we will refer you to your local program.

Volunteers drive to the program site, pick up 8-10 meals stored in easy-to-carry thermal packs, and deliver them to residences using a route designed by the program. You will receive detailed driving and delivery directions – no preparation is necessary. Once your route is finished, you will return the supplies to the program site.

Delivery routes are designed to take no longer than one hour. For most people, it’s easy to deliver meals during the lunch hour.

Meals are generally delivered between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

As often as you would like! Many of our volunteers choose one day a week or one day a month to deliver meals. Commit to a frequency you are comfortable with, and you can always decide to deliver more often in the future

Yes! Delivering meals is a great social activity that you can do with a friend or a larger group. It’s also common for church, social or workplace groups to organize delivery teams. Learn more about how to start a Workplace Delivery Team.

Even if you are volunteering alone, you can request to be paired with another volunteer for your route. If you’re a new volunteer, it can be helpful to go with someone who has delivered before.

With 35 delivery locations throughout the Twin Cities area, chances are there’s a program that’s close to your home or work.

Volunteers bring the meal to each recipient’s door. Part of the fun of delivering is visiting with recipients but it is important to keep visits brief enough for you to complete your route on time. If you find that your recipient needs additional help, you can contact your program coordinator.

While finding volunteers to fill delivery routes is our biggest need, there are other ways to get involved. Here’s a list of our other volunteer opportunities.

On-Site Volunteer Opportunities

While delivering meals is our biggest need, there are other ways to volunteer with Meals on Wheels. Some program sites need help readying meals for delivery or with office tasks. Additionally, we need office support volunteers at our downtown Minneapolis location. We offer opportunites to help with office projects and process donations and donor thank you letters. If you’d like to learn more, please contact Kala at kala@meals-on-wheels.com.

Additional Volunteer Opportunities - Meals on Wheels

Volunteer at the Kitchen

Our meals are produced at Open Arms of Minnesota’s kitchen in South Minneapolis. If you’re interested in helping assemble meals for daily delivery, please sign up on Open Arms’ Volunteer Hub for a MPLS Kitchen Shift.

Other Opportunities

While delivering meals is our biggest volunteer need, there are a number of other ways your family can help seniors and individuals with disabilities in your community.

Metro Meals on Wheels is happy to answer any questions you may have about family-friendly volunteer opportunities. Contact us at info@meals-on-wheels.com or call (612) 623-3363 with any questions or to find out where to deliver your completed projects or donations. We also love to hear stories about your volunteer experiences! Pictures or stories from your activities can be sent to info@meals-on-wheels.com or shared here.

Sign Up to Deliver Meals

Nothing brightens the days of meal recipients like hand-made greeting cards. Cards are especially appreciated at holidays, birthdays and in times of illness. Meals on Wheels makes sure they get delivered to folks along with their daily meal on the appropriate holiday or birthday. Use your creativity, some paper, and any other art supplies you have and remember to make your cards general enough so they will suit any recipient.

In addition to receiving the hot portion of the meal in a tray, Meals on Wheels recipients get the cold portion in a lunch bag. Add life to their meals by decorating lunch bags! Simply buy paper lunch bags and use your creativity, crayons, markers, stickers, or any art materials you have on hand.

No-sew fleece blankets make for an easy and fun project that can provide warmth and comfort to a Meals on Wheels recipient. You will need to buy the fleece fabric, but making it is quick and easy. Here you can find simple instructions for no-sew fleece blankets.

During the holidays and on birthdays, meal recipients are given a special goodie bag to say, “We care.” This is a great project for families, Girl Scouts, service clubs, school groups or workplace volunteer programs. To make it as easy as possible for individuals and groups to contribute to the program, we have established easy-to-follow instructions and guidelines that can be printed and shared with your group.

The biggest need we have is delivering meals, and it’s a family-friendly opportunity. Sign up to deliver as a family or learn more.

Sign Up To Volunteer

Thanks for your interest in volunteering for Meals on Wheels to help bring nutrition and independence to seniors and people with disabilities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area! Please fill out this form and we’ll be in touch with you soon with everything you need to get started.