It has long been a goal of Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels to offer meals to senior citizens in Fort Bend and Waller counties throughout the weekend, and now a grant from the United Way is making that possible.
Initially, the home-delivered meals were only provided on a Monday-through-Friday basis. Last year, through a grant from The George Foundation, a Saturday meal was added.
Now, a $12,000 grant from the United Way is making a Sunday meal available for seniors.
Manuela Arroyos, Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels CEO, said having meals delivered through the weekends is critical to the quality of life for many frail senior citizens.
“It is a long time between Saturday at noon to Monday at noon, which is how long the seniors have to wait to eat again. I’ve tried not eating for 48 hours and it is hard, so we know it is difficult for the seniors who may be taking medication or not feeling their best,” Arroyos said.
Arroyos called the United Way grant “a God-send.”
“We can not begin to thank the United Way for all of their support throughout the year and with this very important project. Jan Ridings, the United Way’s area director for Fort Bend and Waller Counties, as well as all of the staff at the United Way continues to be a God-send as they continue to support our mission for so many years now,” Arroyos said.
Arroyos noted that Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels is committed to helping seniors remain independent by enhancing their quality of life through services and resources.
Many of the seniors on the Meals on Wheels program no longer drive, which leaves them isolated and alone with no way to go to the store.
“The day will probably come for all of us when we have to put our car keys in the junk drawer, and that day is a defining moment in one’s life. That is why the Meals on Wheels program is so important; it breaks the isolation and provides hot nutritious meals for those who would otherwise go hungry,” Arroyos said. “The volunteers who deliver the meals take time to visit with the seniors, which brightens their day and helps curb the loneliness.”
Fort Bend Seniors has been providing meals to seniors for the past 35 years. Organized in 1974, Fort Bend Seniors is one of Fort Bend County’s oldest nonprofit organizations and was born out of a grass roots effort by community leaders.
In the early 1970’s, the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court recognized a growing need in the community: the need to provide seniors with hot, regular meals. Commissioners organized the effort under the Older Americans’ Act of 1965 and during its first year of service, the program provided 20,000 hot meals to 85 seniors from one site location.
By 1976, the program became a nonprofit organization called Fort Bend Senior Citizens, Inc. and established a volunteer board of directors.
In 1990 the Houston-Galveston Area Council Area Agency on Aging asked Fort Bend Senior Citizens, Inc. to expand their service area by taking over the management of the senior program in Waller County.
Through the years, Fort Bend Seniors has evolved and now provides Meals on Wheels services to over 800 seniors daily from seven site locations throughout Fort Bend County and one site in Waller County.
Fort Bend Seniors is the only organization that provides Meals on Wheels to all persons over 60 years of age regardless of income. Client statistics have shown that 85 percent of the agency’s clients live at or below the poverty level.
