While most of us sit at our tables each evening eating a nutritious meal, millions of elderly Americans don’t have that option. Simply because they can’t afford to or cannot prepare food for themselves, each day, they face the sad reality that they may not get the nutrition they need for the day. Meals on wheels help to combat this ongoing crisis. The organization was started in Philadelphia in 1952 by a social worker named Margaret Moffit Toy to help seniors and others homebound. The program serves all 50 states and helps feed millions of hungry seniors.
Today, more than 15 million seniors live at or below the federal poverty level. For a single person per year is 25,760. They struggle with a rising cost of living and cannot afford adequate nutrition. (National Council on Aging). “Nearly 3 million elderly and seniors get home-delivered meals, and nearly 1 million of our nation’s military veterans receive meals” (seniormeals.org). Just one meal per day is estimated to provide most of the daily nutrition for approximately 60 percent of the seniors participating in the program. Most program participants also credit the organization to enable them to live at home longer and giving them something to look forward to each day. For some, this meal delivery may be the only human interaction they will have for the day.
While meals on wheels criteria to qualify for the program differ in each county because of differences in distribution, eligibility is generally based on age, income, and the ability to obtain healthy meals. While Medicare does not help cover the cost of this program, some private insurances will. This program was created to aid the elderly in obtaining proper nutrition. These meals are brought straight to the door by volunteers that also do safety checks as they deliver. Programs like this are crucial to poverty-stricken seniors and are needed nationwide.
For more information about meals on wheels or to donate, go to Meals on Wheels America
References
https://informedseniorliving.com/who-qualifies-for-meals-on-wheels/. (2022). Retrieved from https://informedseniorliving.com/who-qualifies-for-meals-on-wheels/: https://informedseniorliving.com/who-qualifies-for-meals-on-wheels/
https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/: https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/
National Council on Aging, Inc. (2022). National Council on Aging, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.ncoa.org: https://www.ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-economic-security-for-seniors
https://www.senior-meals.org/meals-on-wheels. (n.d.). Retrieved from ttps://www.senior-meals.org/meals-on-wheels.
Written by: Anita Jenkins 4/7/2022