For families who don’t have to worry about their next meal, spending a day with the On Lok Mission Nutrition meal program is a great way to understand the challenges faced by members of our community who are not food secure, even in a city with a high per capita personal income like San Francisco. Liz Loh thought it would be a valuable experience and at last year's On Lok Celebrates Gala, she bid for the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes, full-immersion look at our meal preparation and delivery program.
As the winner of the On Lok Mission Nutrition Ride-along, Liz, her husband Barron Lee, and their two children took a tour of the kitchen at On Lok 30th Street Senior Center, where they helped staff fill trays with freshly prepared food and packed insulated bags of meals for delivery. Once the delivery vans were loaded, the family took off with Mario Rivera, their On Lok driver for the day, to serve the homebound seniors on his route. “I raised my paddle to do the ride-along because I was excited about the opportunity to have my family (including my two sons) learn more about On Lok’s mission, and to meet the community that On Lok supports," said Liz. "We learned a lot from our visit at On Lok. We were so impressed with On Lok’s facilities and its goal of empowering individuals to age with dignity and independence. We also really enjoyed doing the ride along. We loved how our driver was greeted at each home with such joy and warmth. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to learn more about On Lok."
This past year, On Lok Mission Nutrition prepared and served over 287,000 nutritious meals, including hot meals and wellness checks to over 550 homebound seniors.
