Mission and History | Friendship Trays | Charlotte Meals On Wheels

Friendship Trays, Inc.
Mission and History

Updated through Aug. 11, 2009

MISSION STATEMENT

Purpose: To delivery daily, in a caring and friendly manner, balanced meals to individuals in this community who are unable, because of age or infirmity, to obtain or prepare their own meals.

It is agreed that neither age, race, nor the religion of applicants will be factors in consideration of their acceptance as recipients. Nor, in so far as the resources of the program permit, will the economic status or the geographic location of applicants be a consideration.

Location: 2401-A Distribution Street, Charlotte, North Carolina 28203

Telephone: 704.333.9229
704.333.2112 Executive Director
704.333.5947 FAX

Website: www.friendshiptrays.org

E-mail: (first initial + last name) @ friendshiptrays.org

Referrals: Recipients are referred by hospital social service programs, physicians, Hospice of Charlotte, churches, families and direct from potential recipients.

HISTORY

Events: Friendship Trays was founded by representatives from five Churches in the Elizabeth-Chantilly areas: St. Johns Baptist, Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian, Hawthorne Lane United Methodist, St. Martins Episcopal and Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic. Following about a year and a half of meetings and research, these Churches, through an organization they had formed, ENSO, Elizabeth Neighborhood Service Organization, began the operation of Friendship Trays, a name chosen because it combined the two intended gifts, caring and food.

On October 4, 1976, with Ann Elliot as volunteer Executive Director, volunteers delivered the first meals to 6 recipients from each of the sponsoring Churches. Tom Bradbury was an invaluable contributor to beginning the program. Almost immediately, Lalla Gribble joined the effort prompted by her strong belief in the project. After volunteering for a year and a half, Ann served as the first paid Executive Director for over a year. All five sponsoring Churches were extremely supportive. St. Martins and their Rector, Bart Sherman, and Parish Administrator, Frances McSwain, played vital roles from the beginning furnishing office space, use of office machines and telephones until the agency could afford its own. Quickly it became apparent that the need for home delivered meals was greater and more widespread than the Elizabeth-Chantilly neighborhoods.

During 1977, Myers Park Baptist, Trinity Presbyterian, Providence United Methodist, St. Patricks Roman Catholic and Dilworth Methodist Churches joined in supporting the effort. In the fall of 1977, representatives of about 30 congregations met to consider the need for and the future of the program on an expanded basis. This led to incorporation and employment of a part-time director in March 1978. Meals initially were obtained from Mercy Hospital. By 1988, 290 meals were being purchased from 6 hospitals and delivered on 47 routes throughout the city. Offices were located in St. Martins Episcopal Church. In 1989, $130,000 was raised to renovate the kitchen at St. Martins enabling a Health Department approved kitchen. On March 19, 1990, preparation and distribution of 80, of the then 300 daily meals, began from the Friendship Trays kitchen at St. Martins. Over the next 6 years service grew to 416 meals weekdays and weekend delivery added 70 meals on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Board of Directors developed a long-range plan which started with the dream of being able to feed all who need usa dream that required a larger kitchen and more office space. In 1994, Parker Medical Associates and Bruce & Laura Parker donated the use of a bay in his warehouse to house a new facility. In April 1995, a capital drive to equip the space reached its $350,000 goal within four months! Construction began in November and meal delivery began March 18, 1996. Leaving St. Martins, which had been home for 20 years, was extremely difficult, but the potential for expanded service offered by the new kitchen was exciting.

In 1997, the Parkers donated the use of a second warehouse bay adjacent to Friendship Trays for the combined use of the Unity Group, later renamed the Nutrition Coalition, an informal collaboration of Friendship Trays, Community Food Rescue, Loaves & Fishes and The Gleaning Network. The Gleaning Network harvests and distributes food from the fields. Community Food Rescue collects surplus food from groceries, restaurants and institutions to distribute to the hungry and has since merged with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.

Friendship Trays kitchen was basically unused after noon each day. In an effort to get more community benefit from this investment, the Charlotte Community Kitchen, a separate non-profit corporation with its own Board, was founded in 1998. Its purpose is to provide training and job search assistance in the food service industry for people who are chronically unemployed or underemployed. Students assist with preparation of Friendship Trays meals on alternate mornings, and the school holds training sessions in the kitchen in the afternooons In 1999, Charlotte Community Kitchen was renamed The Community Culinary School at Charlotte.

In 1999, Hearts and Hammers, an outreach mission of Independence Hills Baptist Church, donated their vacation time during the week of July 4th to build out the second warehouse bay for Friendship Trays, The Community Culinary School and Community Food Rescue. At that time, Loaves & Fishes and The Gleaning Network chose not to relocate to the second bay. The merger in 2005 between Community Food Rescue and the Food Bank resulted in CFRs physical departure from our space; however, the Gleaning Network chose to relocate into some of the newly available space.

Collaboration and the sharing of space and resources with The Community Culinary School and The Gleaning Network and collaboration with Loaves & Fishes are efforts to efficiently deliver more benefit to the community for the contributions and investments the community has entrusted to us.

Friendship Trays has grown from 6 recipients in October 1976 to a regular caseload of more than 800 recipients in 2009. The majority of the meals are medically prescribed diets. In the beginning, most recipients paid for their meals; however, the program has evolved so that today, well over half of recipients are subsidized partially or in full. This shift has dramatically increased the need for individual, corporate and foundation financial support.

Eight caring and committed women have faithfully served as Executive Director, including, in historical order, Ann Elliot, Patsy Kilgo, Patsy Castleman, Judy McLean, Beverly Howard, Tia McCutcheon, Julie Duckworth, and currently, Lucy Bush Carter.

Funding: Friendship Trays is an IRS 501(c)(3) organization and is not a government or United Way agency. A staff Intake Coordinator evaluates referrals to determine need and ability to pay all or part of the meal charge. Total revenue from meal charges covers regularly covers only about a quarter of the funds required to run the program. For the remainder of the funding, we rely heavily on donations by individuals, churches, foundations and corporations. Late spring golf tournaments and numerous smaller events are held each year to raise funds. An Endowment Campaign was begun in 1997 to help support operational needs. Up to seventy five percent of the annual income from the small endowment becomes available each year to support operations, but since it was founded the earnings have been left in the endowment to build its size.

Staffing: Over 1,500 volunteers enable the program to work by delivering meals and/or helping package meals in the kitchen. Other volunteers help in the office, assist with distribution and special events, and serve on the Board, etc. The staff of people filling full- and part-time positions are identified on the Friendship Trays website.

Area Served: Friendship Trays has expanded over the years as volunteer drivers could be found and funding would support operations. By mid-2009 the area served stretched from Huntersville to south of Interstate 485, and from a few blocks from the Catawba River to the Cabarrus County line.

Needs: Drivers to deliver meals, volunteers to help in the kitchen with meal packaging, volunteers to help with special projects, volunteers to serve on committees and the Board. Monetary contributions to fund the program and subsidize meals. Office supplies. Prayers.