Meals of Joy, a Litchfield Park-based nonprofit meal delivery program that serves seniors throughout the West Valley, has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the ON Semiconductor Foundation. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for the organization’s hot and ready-to-eat meals is 3 1/2 times what it was before March 2020, and the organization delivers more than 700 meals per week to seniors in Avondale, Buckeye, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Sun City, Surprise/Sun City Grand and Sun City West.

In 2020, Meals of Joy volunteers delivered more than 20,000 meals, according to a news release.

READ: 80 seniors receive free Taste for Joy meals

“We are thrilled to be a recipient of a grant from the ON Semiconductor Foundation, which will help support our efforts to bring a fresh, never frozen, and tasty meal to as many seniors as possible,” Meals of Joy Founder Larry Cervarich said in a prepared statement.

“Our seniors need our program now more than ever, so they can stay at home and stay healthy,”  he said.         

The ON Semiconductor Foundation’s commitment to serving the needs of communities through an investment of resources helps make the program possible, the release stated.

Launched in 2019, the foundation is overseen by an employee-based board of directors that manages its daily operations and approves recommendations from grant advisers globally.

Since 2016, the Phoenix-based ON Semiconductor company has funded more than $5 million in grants, employee matching and in-kind donations, as well as sponsorships and dollars-for-doers for employee volunteerism, the release stated. 

“Investing in the communities in which we operate and where our employees live is critical to our organization as we look to continue our legacy of giving and volunteering,” said Theresa Haywood-McCarley, who is senior director of corporate social responsibility at ON Semiconductor and serves as the foundation board’s secretary.

“On behalf of the ON Semiconductor Foundation, we’re proud to support the work of Meals of Joy as we work toward making the world better together,” she said.

For more information about the company, visit onsemi.com.