It was nearly 30 year ago, back in 1981 when food critic Gael Greene, chef James Beard and cookbook author Barbara Kafka read an article about how many of New York’s homebound elderly had nothing to eat on weekends and holidays. Deeply touched by the story, they form a unique partnership with the New York City Department for the Aging and raised $35,000 to provide a Christmas dinner for 6,000 elderly poor that year. That inspirational act led them to form Citymeals-on-Wheels to continue providing food for those elderly who needed it. The organization grew as they called on friends like Ira Riklis to lend their support.
From that simple beginning, Citymeals-on-Wheels has grown to serve more than 2.5 million meals each year and has a budget of nearly $17.5 million—every penny of which goes to provide nutritious, hand-delivered meals to this group of people who would otherwise be hungry and alone. Ira Riklis continues to be a strong supporter, just as he was at the beginning. And he urges others to offer their support to similar organizations operating in their area.