Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Meals On Wheels Association of America and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
The grant award was announced last week.
Manuela Arroyos, executive director of Fort Bend Seniors Meals On Wheels said this past year, many programs were forced to change or reduce their services, because of severe operating constraints brought on by rising food and gas prices and the current economic crisis. The grant is intended to help restore nutrition services to better serve seniors in Fort Bend County.
“With the MOWAA/Wal-Mart Foundation Cure Grant, we will be able to feed more of our senior clients in need and make a tremendous impact in our community,” Arroyos said.
According to a national research study entitled “The Causes, Consequences and Future of Senior Hunger in America,” which was commissioned by the Meals On Wheels Association of America Foundation, one in nine seniors in America is at risk of hunger. The finding that 11.4 percent of seniors in the country are at risk of hunger, coupled with fact that the population is aging at an unprecedented rate, puts a significant strain on community-based Meals On Wheels programs’ ability to provide meals for those in need.
Enid Borden, president and CEO of the MOWAA Foundation said the grant program is designed to increase the number of individuals served and reverse the forced reduction in meal services seen at Meals On Wheels programs throughout the nation.
“Unlike cancer or AIDS, we have the cure to end senior hunger in America today,” Borden said. “We can’t thank the Wal-Mart Foundation enough for supporting us in our mission and remembering the seniors we serve during this desperate time.”
For the past 35 years Fort Bend Seniors has been providing meals to over 1,000 seniors a day.
Residents are also encouraged to get involved by “adopting” a senior, Arroyos said.
“Those in the community are invited to adopt a senior. Adopting a senior includes providing funds for a meal on a regular basis, delivering a meal on a regular basis and calling the senior on them. Each meal cost $3.30,” Arroyos said. “With the MOWAA/Wal-Mart grant and those in the community adopting a senior, we will be able to expand services to provide meals for the 160 senior citizens on the waiting list, waiting for meals to be delivered.”
