Home Contra Costa County Meals on Wheels Diablo Region’s Meal Delivery Continues After Fire

Meals on Wheels Diablo Region’s Meal Delivery Continues After Fire

Press Release

by ECT
Walnut Creek

On Saturday evening, Meals on Wheels Diablo Region had a fire in its Walnut Creek office, suspected to be caused by a faulty light panel.

The fire broke out at around 11:00 pm at 1300 Civic Ave in Walnut Creek where Contra Costa County Firefighters arrived on scene and found smoke in the building.

The offices will remain closed while the organization assesses smoke, water, and other damage, but according to Caitlin Sly, Executive Director, meal deliveries will not be impacted by the fire.

“Since our meals are prepared and packaged at an off-site kitchen, our volunteers will pick up meals at our other pick-up sites around the County. We can ensure that all clients will receive their meals,” said Sly adding that supportive services like Fall Prevention, exercise classes, Friendly Visitors, Care Management, will also continue uninterrupted.

The fire was contained in a second-floor storage room and any structural damage appears minor.

“We are assessing the situation to see when staff will be able to reenter the building,” adds Sly. “During Covid, most of our staff were able to work from home without any disruption to services, in fact, no client ever missed a meal. Our staff and volunteers are resilient.”

MOW Diablo Region is already speaking to other organizations to arrange for temporary office space for its most essential workers. “We are so grateful for the offers to help,” says Sly. “The community recognizes the important service we provide to vulnerable seniors. Without MOW Diablo Region many seniors would go hungry.”

Volunteers were notified of the situation on Sunday and clients should not see any change to their delivery times.

If you have questions about meal delivery, volunteer assignments, or how you can help, please call 925-937-8311 or reach out to us online at [email protected].

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1 comment

Debbie Vargas Oct 19, 2022 - 12:11 am

It was only a couple hours after Meals on Wheels Diablo received a community grant award of $25,000 from Impact 100 East Bay, Inc., that the fire alarms were going off at their Walnut Creek facility. The grant will support a new Senior Breakfast Bags Program to MOW-Diablo program participants who face food insecurities…

While many donations are making their way to MOW-Diablo for recovery and reconstruction, and business interruption insurance will cover 80% of their operating costs for the next 6 months, they are projecting at least a $12,000 shortfall. The board of directors of Impact 100 East Bay, Inc. a women’s philanthropic organization serving Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, voted tonight to immediately grant $2,000 to cover next month’s shortfall. We are hopeful that other organizations will follow Impact 100 East Bay’s lead. We will keep in contact with MOW-Diablo executive director, Caitlin Sly, and be prepared to offer additional assistance, if necessary.

Impact 100 East Bay awarded $160,000 in grants on September 24, bringing the cumulative grants of more than $700,000 over the last 6 years. “We are trying to grow our membership. We are hopeful that this emergency assistance to our latest awardee will help get MOW-Diablo over their short-term setback and will make the community aware of the philanthropic organizations that function behind the scenes in our communities to help with unmet needs.

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