Help Us Feed Senior Citizens and Disabled Adults

40 Dreams Catering has been providing meals to senior citizens since 2015 through a Medicaid-funded program called Managed Long-Term Services and Supports. We cook and deliver approximately 2,200 meals per week to over 300 seniors daily. Our meals are made without adding salt or sugar to ensure healthy eating habits. Our services also create employment opportunities within our communities.

Unfortunately, the recent Change Healthcare Breach, a security breach at a major medical claims clearinghouse, has negatively impacted our business. As a Medicaid provider, we submit medical claims to get reimbursed for our services, but due to the breach, we have not received payment for services rendered since February 10, 2024.

In the past six months, we have faced unexpected expenses including the following:

In trying to get the vans back on the road we were delayed due to the automobile strike. We rented vans and borrowed cars to keep our business running. We are all doing as much as possible to keep things going, but I don't know when we will be paid for services rendered. Our seniors need to be fed. We can't let a cyber attack on Change Healthcare stop the operation of 40 Dreams Catering.

Despite these challenges, we have managed to continue serving our seniors and keeping our staff employed, but we cannot sustain this for long without revenue. We need funds to keep our business running and provide our seniors with the meals they need. The funds raised from this campaign will be used to pay our delayed bills, purchase a commercial reach-in refrigerator, and buy two commercial convection ovens. We also need to ensure timely processing of payroll for our nine employees.

We did not anticipate these obstacles, and we are doing our best to weather this storm.

Here's a little about me and how this business started. I began cooking with my mom at a very young age. When I was seven she was diagnosed with lupus and we began cooking without added salt or sugar because my mom was on a restricted diet. Fast forward to adulthood, I pursued my dream of cooking after a layoff in 2009. When the chance to make meals for seniors was presented, I knew I was on the right path. Making meals for seniors was the perfect opportunity to help seniors have a better quality of life by cooking for them the way I cooked for my mom. I've grown the business from three to 300 clients and from one to nine New Jersey counties. My team of drivers personally delivers the meals to seniors, providing an additional check and balance to a vulnerable population. Things have been going well over the last eight years, but we are in a dire situation now that we haven't been paid for services rendered due to the Change Healthcare cyber attack.

We hope we can count on your support to continue our mission and provide vital services to our community.