The food drives found everywhere this time of year are heartening — people really do want to help the less fortunate. The people who run food banks all year around are also inspirational angels. So are the volunteers and donors who support a subset of citizens who are in need of food — the housebound, low-income, usually elderly people who rely on the Meals on Wheels program.
The only problem with the program is that it can’t keep up with all the people in need of its services. About 60 percent of Meals on Wheels funding comes from the federal government and the other 40 percent comes from donations, grants or optional contributions from seniors who receive the meals, Herald writer Kary Bray reported in August as part of the paper’s “Snohomish County Gives” annual report on charity. A new focus by the United Way on homelessness meant funding cuts to the program.
The gratitude of recipients is palpable. “It’s a godsend. I’m not kidding you,” Lenna Arsenault told Bray in August. “When you can’t get up, it’s just a godsend.”
The nonprofit Senior Services of Snohomish County runs the Meals on Wheels program, and served 1,122 seniors from July 2015 to July 2016, Bray reported. More than 3,000 meals are delivered every week all over the county. The bad news, however, is that more than 200 seniors remain on the waiting list. This news about the funding cuts and seniors still in need spurred James Mallonee to establish a $10,000 matching gift to help raise support for the program, the Senior Focus newsletter reported this month.
“I can’t imagine any senior going hungry in this day and age,” Mallonee told Senior Focus, “and I knew I had to do something.” And so he made his matching gift. To date, $38,500 has been raised and Senior Services has been able to serve an additional 30 clients who had been on the waiting list for months, according to the report. Which, however, still leaves 200 people waiting for a warm meal once a week.
A donation today, as Senior Services says, can take someone off the wait list who is isolated and not sure when they will eat again. Let’s offer them hope.
If you would like to make donation to support Meals on Wheels, or volunteer, go to sssc.org or call Janet Duncan at 425-290-1262.
Donations of pet food, incontinence supplies and gently used household items are accepted at the Opportunity Shoppe thrift store, 6915 Evergreen Way in Everett.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
