Concordia staff cook up hundreds of daily dinners for Meals on Wheels patrons

FARGO — Each weekday, Concordia Dining Services employees are bustling around the college’s kitchen, busily preparing around 2,000 meals that will be picked up or delivered to senior stations in Fargo and Moorhead, where they will be distributed or served by volunteers through Meals on Wheels.

Janet Despard, the director of dining services at Concordia College in Moorhead, said Concordia has been preparing, packaging and delivering the meals for “many years.”

While several staff from Concordia Dining Services play a role in this work — including bakers, a culinary team, delivery drivers and dishwashers —- six employees, including a registered dietitian nutritionist, are dedicated to preparing the specific meals.

In Moorhead, Nutrition Services Inc. coordinates the Meals on Wheels del