The Meadows Foundation has awarded $87,000 to Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels, allowing the agency to expand its services to more senior citizens in Fort Bend and Waller counties.
The money will be used to help provide meals for senior citizens currently on a waiting list.
GRANT TO EXPAND SERVICES – Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels board members show off the $87,000 grant the agency recently received from the Meadows Foundation. Shown, from left, are Randy Briones, Ray Aguilar, CEO Manuela Arroyos, Lisa Collins, Michael Campbell, Board Chair Karyn Dean, Treasurer Tom Shirley and Vice President David Vasquez.
It will also insure the nonprofit is able to continue its work during the current difficult economy.
“The funds the Meadows Foundation has provided will allow Fort Bend Seniors to continuing caring for our area seniors. We had a waiting list of over 150 seniors, which these funds will help provide meals through the end of the year,” said Manuela Arroyos, chief executive officer of Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels.
Presently, FBS is providing meals to over 1,200 seniors each day, and that number continues to grow. Meals are provided seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
“The meals provided to the seniors meet the national nutrition requirements and often are enough for two meals,” Arroyos explained. “These meals are usually the only food the senior has each day. If it was not for these meals, the seniors would not only go hungry but would have many more (health) challenges, all of which are brought on by malnutrition.”
Arroyos added many people do not realize that it saves taxpayers to have meals delivered, rather than for the senior to be forced to move into a Medicaid-funded nursing home.
It is also better for the community for the seniors to stay in their homes, she explained, and it is healthier for seniors to age in place around all that is familiar to them.
The senior citizens receiving meals are primarily people who once went to work everyday, raised a family and contributed to the community. However, with the current weakened economy and recent hurricanes, many are having a hard time trying to live on a fixed income with their savings and retirement funds depleted, Arroyos explained.
Additionally, the seniors are no longer able to drive, which further isolates them from helping themselves.
“We can not begin to express what these funds mean to the agency. It will not only mean seniors in our community will continue having a daily meal, it also means those who have been waiting on meals will now have a hot and nutritious meal every day,” Arroyos said.
The benefits, however, extend beyond just the meal itself, she added. Receiving daily meals also means a trained volunteer is checking on the seniors’ welfare every day while making the meal delivery.
“The volunteer who delivers the meal is usually the only face the shut-in senior sees each day, and that personal contact is another healthy aspect of the Meals on Wheels program,” Arroyos said.
Meals on Wheels staffers are preparing to notify seniors on the waiting list that they will now be a part of the meal program.
“Our case managers are looking forward to contacting the shut-in seniors on the waiting list to tell them they would now be receiving daily meals from caring volunteers. Now that is the kind of call we all like to make,” Arroyos said. “Again, we cannot thank the Meadows Foundation enough.”
The Meadows Foundation is a private philanthropic institution established in 1948 by Algur H. and Virginia Meadows to benefit the people of Texas.
The Foundation’s mission is to assist the people and institutions of Texas improve the quality and circumstances of life for themselves and future generations.
