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Mrs. Smith is 90 years old and lives alone. Mrs. Smith lives in the home where she raised her family and cannot imagine leaving. She has lived there all her life. Mrs. Smith’s family has left the area and she must take care of herself. Due to medical reasons, Mrs. Smith is unable to drive herself to places she used to go, like the grocery store. Mrs. Smith also has a very hard time cooking her meals, let alone thinking about cooking a nutritious meal. While the story of Mrs. Smith is fictional, it is a story about many of the seniors being served by the Home Delivered Meal program of Washington-Morgan Community Action. Most of the seniors are over the age of 75 and live alone. Many do not have family members in the area to help them with their day to day activities, such as preparing meals. Many face numerous medical problems that make it impossible for them to leave their home.
Today, the Senior Nutrition Program provides hot home delivered meals to seniors throughout Washington County. The home delivered meal routes wind through areas such as Marietta, Belpre, Lower Salem, Beverly, New Matamoras, Churchtown, Barlow, Bartlett and Cutler. Home delivered meals are provided to individuals 60 years of age or older. Individuals must be homebound by reason of illness, incapacitating disability or otherwise isolated. On average, the Senior Nutrition Program produces over 350 hot meals a day with over half of those being home delivered meals. Seniors on the program do not have to pay for the meals but are asked to make a donation of $2.00 a meal. All donations are put back into the program and used to serve more seniors. Unfortunately, there is a waiting list for the home delivered meal program. The waiting list grows each day as more and more seniors are in need of hot nutritious meals. Funding sources for the program include client donations, the Greater Marietta United Way, the United Way Alliance of the Mid Ohio Valley, the Medicaid Waiver program, the Washington County Senior Services Levy and an allocation from the Area Agency on Aging, which Washington-Morgan Community Action must bid on each year. The contribution made by the Greater Marietta United Way and the United Way Alliance of the Mid Ohio Valley are essential funding sources for the home delivered meal program. Each year the program must combat funding cuts even as the demand grows. Without the United Way, fewer seniors would be able to receive home delivered meals and the waiting list would be much longer. For 2008, the Greater Marietta United Way has allocated $14,000 for the Home Delivered Meal Program and the United Way Alliance of the Mid Ohio Valley has allocated $4,000. When thinking about making a contribution, please remember Mrs. Smith and how the United Way has helped make a difference in her life and in the lives of many other seniors in Washington County. For more information about the Senior Nutrition Program of Washington-Morgan Community Action please call (740) 373-3745. |
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Washington-Morgan Community Action Washington and Morgan Counties, Ohio |
218 Putnam Street, Marietta, OH 45750 (740) 373-374550 W. Third Street, PO Box 398, Malta, OH 43758 (740) 962-3827 |