The major contributor to the program is the thrift shop owned and operated by the United Methodist Church of Elk City and run mostly by volunteers.
With the support of the entire community the Elk City Meals on Wheels program operates without federal or state funding. All building renovations and some equipment have been made possible through federal modernization grants that the housing authority receives. The partnership with the housing authority has provided Meals on Wheels with the necessary space and equipment to better serve the elderly and handicapped of the community.
The original kitchen and dining room in the housing authority building have been remodeled more than once and will soon be remodeled again to replace cabinets. Since that time the program had undergone more changes. The program garnered the support of the entire community and continued serving only the homebound until 1989 when the Elk City Housing Authority approached the directors and offered to partner with them, continuing to provide meals for the homebound, but also adding a dining room where a congregate meal could be served to those who chose to dine there. Mary Kelly saw the need to provide one hot meal per day to those who could not prepare one for themselves and could not go outside their home for one. Elk City Meals on Wheels began in the kitchen of one of its founders in 1987.
