Meals on Wheels Drives Downtown Favorites to Homebound Residents

By Jill Kasparie, Reporter

Dianna Young, Meals on Wheels A volunteer packs meals in a case for Meals On Wheels at Horizons, 819 5th Street SE in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday morning, June 1, 2011. (Stephen Mally/Freelance)

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By Belinda Yeung

Story Created: Aug 20, 2012 at 7:45 AM CDT

Story Updated: Aug 20, 2012 at 10:37 AM CDT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Meals on Wheels recipients are in for a surprise when their meal arrives Monday afternoon.

They'll get a dish that's not typically on the menu. It's all part of an event called Taste of the City - Bringing Downtown to Your Door.

The popular downtown restaurant, Zins, is teaming up with the Horizons Meals on Wheels staff to create nearly 800 warm meals for homebound seniors and people with disabilities. Work started early Monday morning with crews slicing tomatoes and cracking eggs.

While the buzz of downtown life is something many are used to, some people can’t get out and about to try new restaurants or see what’s going on. Organizers said this would give homebound residents that opportunity.

“This is nice. We give people some healthy meals everyday but rarely do people get to have meals like Zins,” said Meals on Wheels Chef Mike Davis.

Zins workers and Meals on Wheels staff members will work together to make Monday’s meal a reality.

“We’re doing some roasted cherry tomatoes. That will go with a basil-crusted chicken and we’ll have our signature Zins mac and cheese and our signature chocolate bread pudding going out today,” said Zins Executive Chef Nate Jiroutek.

This is the first event of its kind for Meals on Wheels. The organization serves hundreds of meals each day to homebound residents in and around Cedar Rapids.

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