The Tamaqua Area Meals on Wheels moved its headquarters to the east end of the borough about two years ago.

Even though it’s been awhile, coordinator Samantha Gibbons said not everyone seems to realize that the nonprofit program continues as it has for the past 60 years.

She believes the confusion stems from both the new location and a different telephone number.

“People are confused, and when they can’t find you, they might say, ‘Oh well, I guess they’re closed,’?”? she said from the “new” 801 E. Broad St. office shared with the Tamaqua Insurance Center.

Through the program, clients receive breakfast, lunch and dinner each weekday. The meals are prepared by the dietary department at St. Luke’s Miners Campus in Coaldale, then distributed to volunteers.

“We are blessed that we have one of the best Meals on Wheels packages to be offered. Not only is it three meals a day, but St. Luke’s provides diet-specific meals,” Gibbons said. “If anyone is restricted in any way, they will meet that need.”

Some clients might be diabetic, for example, while others might require low-sodium foods.

“We also provide nutritional supplements like Ensure and Glucerna at no extra cost to the people who needed it,” Gibbons said.

Tamaqua Area Meals on Wheels receives funding from the Schuylkill United Way.

“We could not continue without all the help we receive from them,” Gibbons said. “Anything that we provide, the United Way is there to help us.”

Other Schuylkill County Meals on Wheels programs receive funding from Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services.

The Tamaqua organization serves those in the Tamaqua Area School District who are unable to prepare meals for themselves.

“We’ll serve anyone in the community. If you have a need, we will meet it,” Gibbons said. “Our mission statement is to provide healthy and nutritious meals to elderly and disabled people in the Tamaqua Area School District.”

The program costs $29 per week, and participation is by the week or the month.

“Sometimes people will be going away and they will order a week of meals for their family member,” she explained.

Volunteers deliver meals Mondays through Fridays between 10 and 11:30 a.m. The helpers often are the only person a client will see in a day and provide much-needed human contact with their brief visits.

For enrollment or to request a client referral form, call Tamaqua Area Meals on Wheels at 570-449-8271 weekdays between 9 and 11 a.m. Referrals are also made through physicians, visiting nurses, social service agencies or caregivers.

Before the most recent move, the organization had been at Trinity United Church of Christ and the former First Presbyterian Church in Tamaqua.