ZELIENOPLE — One year after becoming an independently operated organization, Zelienople, Harmony and Evans City Meals on Wheels volunteers say it was a smart decision.

“Things could not be going any better,” said Barb Kaufman, chair of the organization’s steering committee.

Last year, the committee decided to split from Lutheran Service Society, which had been its parent organization since its inception on June 1, 1970.

Lutheran Service was supportive in the group’s move to independence and agreed to let it keep “Meals on Wheels” in its name, Kaufman said.

In the past, the Lutheran Service processed all donations for the group, which included taking a 10 percent bookkeeping fee, and paid its bills.

Checks can now be made out directly to Zelienople-Evans City Meals on Wheels and they are processed by a bookkeeper who works for free. This has helped bring in donations in the past year, because donors know the money will be put directly into the program, Kaufman said.

“It goes right to our kitchen, we spend that money. We don’t have any corporate fees now,” she said.

While the change has helped the group become “more solvent” financially, the day-to-day operations have continued, much like they have for the past 44 years, Kaufman said.

The group operates out of the basement of English Lutheran Church on Grandview Avenue in Zelienople. It makes a $100 donation each month to the church and pays one cook who prepares the food, but all other money goes toward the food.

The volunteers deliver one cold meal and one hot meal to about 45 people a day, five days a week. The hot meal typically consists of a meat, a starch, a vegetable, a slice of bread and a dessert. The cold meal is a sandwich and a half pint of milk.

More than 100 volunteers contribute each year by packing the meals, doing deliveries and other duties.

Operating on its own has helped the group further its goal of helping people in the area, committee member Diane White said.

“Everything goes to the service of the people. They listen to the people and ask what they want,” White said.

The volunteers often ask the people they deliver to which meals they liked or disliked and try to shape the menu based on that feedback, White said.

In some cases the volunteers become close with the people on the route and even have helped them out in other ways like giving them a ride to the doctor’s office or to go shopping, Kaufman said.

The group operates four delivery routes and could handle up to 60 stops.

The recipients of the meals are typically older people who are unable to do grocery shopping or cook for themselves on a regular basis. They can sign up on their own, though many are referred by a doctor or social worker. The recipients make a $20 donation each week to receive the meals.

To reach the program, call 724-452-6676.