MOWCS NCSA

MEALS ON WHEELS COMMUNITY SERVICES NORTHERN CONFERENCE SA
Meals on Wheels is currently known by its acronym MOWCS (Meals on Wheels Community Services). Changes in the organizational structure and in its services have taken place over a period of time so that MOWCS can continue to be relevant, legally authentic, and socially acceptable. Amongst these changes, multiple changes in the name of the organisation has formed a part of the metamorphoses. The organization started off as “Meals on Wheels”, after which it became “Harvest Ingathering Appeal Northern Area”. Then, in August 2000, the name was changed to “ADRA” (Adventist Development and Relief Agency). Due to the nature of the work not being classified as development and relief, it was voted to amend the name of the organization to “Meals on Wheels Community Services” (MOWCS) in March 2008, reflecting an additional aspect of community service added to the work being carried out at the time. Today the organization has grown from one branch in the early 1960s, namely the Johannesburg Federation branch, to more than 181 branches and affiliates countrywide. In 1965 the Magnolia branch of Meals on Wheels was opened in Pretoria, followed by Benoni, Pietersburg, Springs and Vereeniging in 1973 and West Rand in 1975.
Twenty-seven of the affiliates in the country are currently operating in the MOWCS NCSA area.MOWCS NCSA operates in the four provinces of the northern part of South Africa namely: Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and the North West. The MOW initiative has flourished under the wings of the Transvaal Conference, now known as the Northern Conference of South Africa.