City of Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson lends support to SCI's Meals on Wheels Program

 

Some big names are putting the spotlight on the need for senior nutrition in our community.

Call it a show of thanks.

City of Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson paid homage to Senior Citizens, Inc.’s (SCI) Meals on Wheels staff members, volunteers, and clients by delivering meals to homebound seniors in our community on Monday, March 24. Every day, more than 1,800 meals are delivered to senior citizens throughout a five-county area of Coastal Georgia.

The Mayor’s March for Meals is part of a national campaign held during the month of March, initiated and sponsored by the Meals on Wheels Association of America, to raise awareness of senior hunger and to encourage action on the part of local communities. The initiative also celebrates the invaluable services provided by senior nutrition programs.

Mayor Jackson spent time speaking with each Meals on Wheels client, listening to their stories, and asking how she could help. She promised to look into housing repairs for Annie Jenkins and swapped recipes with Lorane Minis. The Mayor presented Jenkins and Minis each with a special gift from the City – a book entitled Gardens of Savannah.

These older adults have given so much to the community in which we live; now it’s our time to care for them,” said Mayor Jackson. “My aunt was a recipient of Meals on Wheels,” added Jackson. “She not only looked forward to the meal, but she enjoyed having someone to talk to every day. As her caregiver, the Meals on Wheels program helped her and it helped me – she knew she had a friend visit each day and I knew that someone was there to check on her.”

“I don’t know what I would do without Meals on Wheels,” said Meals on Wheels client Lorane Minis. “It brings me comfort and relief from stress. I can put together a small breakfast, but Meals on Wheels takes me through my afternoon.”

SCI is facing a third round of budget cuts from the Federal government. Its nutrition program will receive one-third less funding in the coming fiscal year.  “Mayor Jackson’s participation in the Mayor’s March for Meals allows us the opportunity to receive a grant from the Meals on Wheels Association of America as part of their March for Meals initiative to generate public awareness about senior hunger,” said Lyons.

“Meals on Wheels helps keep seniors in their homes and costs far less than a trip to the hospital for malnutrition or illnesses directly related to malnourishment,” said Patti Lyons, executive director of SCI. “The cost of one day in a hospital will feed a senior for an entire year.”

Overall, Meals on Wheels saves taxpayers money by keeping seniors in their homes averting far more costly healthcare alternatives such as hospitals or nursing homes. The average cost per day of nursing home care is $229. It costs just $6 a day to feed a senior through the Meals on Wheels program. “On a positive note, this helps us become less dependent on the government and urges us to find alternative funding sources. In addition to donations, volunteering is a great way to help,” said Lyons. The more volunteers the organization has to deliver meals, the more they are able to control and reduce costs to the program.

“I was always interested in volunteering, but didn’t think I had the time,” said Christian Kaipo, a Meals on Wheels volunteer and current student at South University. “When I learned that I could volunteer for one hour a week delivering meals to seniors in need, there was no good reason not to.”

For more information about how to receive meals or volunteer, please visit www.seniorcitizens-inc.org or call (912) 236-0363.

  

About SCI:
Through its Meals on Wheels program, SCI prepares and delivers each week more than 4,500 home-delivered meals and an additional 700 meals for congregate sites such as neighborhood senior centers. SCI serves five counties in coastal Georgia – Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, Liberty, and McIntosh yet there are still nearly 600 people on a waiting list to receive meals.
 
The mission of Senior Citizens, Inc. is to help people age successfully. For more than fifty years, the organization has worked to provide direct services that allow seniors to remain in the homes of their choice for as long as possible. Services are provided throughout five counties in southeast Georgia and include home-delivered meals, in-home care, neighborhood centers, adult daytime care and The Learning Center.

 

About Meals On Wheels Association of America
The Meals On Wheels Association of America is the only national organization and network dedicated solely to ending senior hunger in America. The Association is the oldest and largest organization composed of and representing local, community-based Senior Nutrition Programs in all 50 states as well as the U.S. territories.  More than 5,000 local Meals on Wheels Programs leverage a dedicated army of two million volunteers who day-in and day-out create an efficient and caring way to keep America’s seniors stay independent, healthy and able to live in their own homes. For more information or to locate a local Meals On Wheels program, visit mowaa.org.