MVNP

About MVNP       
The Merrimack Valley Nutrition Project has been a regional lunch program for elderly persons sixty years of age and older since March of 1974 (34 yrs). The Project is located at the Greater Lawrence Technical School in Andover, MA. It is centrally located to the cities and towns of the Merrimack Valley Region with easy access to major highways … Route 495 and Route 93.

MVNP, through a regulated meal service program, provides hot nutritious meals to elders five days per week at central locations throughout the region. Meals are also delivered to homebound elders. MVNP seeks to improve the nutritional well being of program participants, and provide companionship/social-opportunities at 23 congregate meal sites. Presently, approximately 1,796 meals are served daily. MVNP also serves frozen weekend meals to 90 homebound clients.

Meals (Regular and Modified) are prepared and packaged at the Greater Lawrence Technical School and transported  in special thermal containers to meal sites and delivered in thermal containers  by volunteer “Meals on Wheels” drivers. The meals are designed to meet one third of the current daily-recommended dietary allowance. Menus are formulated by MVNP’s Nutritionist in conformance with Nutrition Standards as set forth by the Massachusetts Department of Elder Affairs.

The Subcontractors: Andover Council on Aging serves approximately 130 meals/day, Chelmsford Council on Aging 241 meals/day through its’ Congregate and Home Delivered Programs. Salvation Army serves an average of 55 congregate meals 5x a week. MVNP partially funds two other programs in Lowell. The Lowell Transitional Program at 12 meals per day and the Lowell Senior Center at 39 meals per day. In FY ’09 MVNP is budgeting to increase the funded meals at the Lowell Senior Center to 54 meals daily.

In FY ’09, MVNP proposes to deliver an average of 1,462 Home Delivered meals per day. Since FY ’00 MVNP has seen a steady shift in the increase of home delivered meals vs. congregate meals. Currently, 81% of MVNP prepared meals are home delivered. MVNP has 65 “Meals on Wheels” routes throughout the region, catering the largest geographical area for the homebound meal distribution in the state. MVNP is proposing to increase the hours of the MVNP Nutritionist an additional – 10 hrs per week so she may ensure providing the EOEA mandated nutrition education at our 22 meal sites and along with the five sites of our sub grantees Andover COA, Chelmsford COA, Lowell COA, Lowell Transitional and Salvation Army.

MVNP continues to be the fiscal agent and subcontracts with the Elder Lunch Programs, The Salvation Army in Lowell, Andover Council on Aging, Chelmsford Council on Aging, Lowell Council on Aging and Lowell Transitional Living Center. Further information regarding these contracts will be addressed in section E.

During the FY ’07, MVNP served 420,163 meals through the congregate and home delivered meal service. The subcontracts provided another estimated 144,712 meals through their congregate and home delivered meal service. The total number of meals provided was 564,875. Nutrition services were provided to over 11,100 elders in the region.

The Merrimack Valley Nutrition Project is aware of the increasing number of low-income minority elders in the Merrimack Valley. Therefore, it has established a minority of self-cooking Latino meal site at the Lawrence Council on Aging. The unique set up with the Latino meal is that on site cooking takes place in addition to serving the regular Title IIIC meal.

Greater Lawrence Technical School:
Since the Nutrition Project’s beginning in 1974, the Greater Lawrence Technical School District has provided many In-Kind Services. These in-kind services assist MVNP in being one of the most cost effective Nutrition Programs in the state.  (Note: In–Kind Services are estimated at $150,000/yr with a modern kitchen facility.)

•Rent free kitchen space/office space
•Kitchen Stockroom/Storage area
•Pan and warmer area
•Heat/Gas
•Reduced Electricity rate
•Reduced labor rate/van repairs
•Labor staffing of students/part time chef instructor
•Computer and Internet Service
•Snow Plowing and Shoveling