Times are tough for everyone this year. Everyone is scaling back and it is hard to make ends meet sometimes. Imagine what it is like for the senior citizens we serve, though. Someone told us once that he had thought about donating $10 but he was afraid it was too small of a donation to matter so he decided not to give. So we want to remind everyne that no amount is ever too small to matter to us. Five dollars is all we need to be able to provide one more home delivered meal and for $30 we can provide an entire week of meals. We help our clients one meal at a time and every meal is important to them. No donation it too small.
How Prevalent Is Senior Hunger?
One out of every nine seniors suffers from food insecurity so Meals on Wheels of Texoma is working with the Meals on Wheels Association of America to eradicate senior hunger by the year 2020. Food insecurity is a disease for which we have a cure—for our elderly, one possibility is the Meals on Wheels program. Using data from the two most recent U.S. Census periods (2003-2005 and 2005-2007), we know that the number of seniors who have faced food insecurity has quadrupled, going from 700,000 in 2003 to over 3 million in 2007. That is equal to an yearly increase of 45%; every two years, the number of seniors facing the possibility of hunger nearly doubles. We know that geographically, hunger varies from state to state. Southern states face the highest risk in the country. When ranked from highest risk to lowest risk, nine of the top ten states are in the South, and Texas ranks fourth in the country. The states with the highest risk of senior hunger are, listed from highest risk to lowest risk:
- Mississippi
- South Carolina
- Arkansas
- Texas
- New Mexico
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
What is Meals on Wheels of Texoma Doing to Combat Senior Hunger?
Meals on Wheels of Texoma is working to eradicate senior hunger and isolation and promote independent living through our home-delivered and congregate meal activities. Meals on Wheels of Texoma served over 376,000 meals in 2011, 25% of which were paid for using local funding: donations from people, like you, who know that they can make a difference in their community. MOWOT raised $325,000 from the community last year, which we used to provide meals to elderly clients who were waiting for state or federal funding to become available.
Meals on Wheels of Texoma promotes the health and quality of life of senior citizens and disabled persons by preparing, serving, and delivering, nutritionally balanced meals to clients throughout Cooke, Fannin, and Grayson Counties.