While both old and young people had a part in the early beginnings of Carroll County Meals on Wheels, the initial spark came from Mrs. Fran Mickel, the first executive director of the Carroll County Commission on Aging when she initiated a survey to determine the needs of the elderly in Carroll County in August 1972. In the early spring of 1973, the Carroll County Meals on Wheels Committee decided to establish a home-delivered meal program with Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, Inc., which would be the first such program in a rural area, with the Carroll County Commission on Aging as its sponsor. In July 1973, the first twenty-six clients were served from three routes in Carroll County, operating with a volunteer corps of forty-five men and women.