It was a grant award that will help meet an expanding need in Fayette County. The Walmart Foundation recently awarded Fayette Senior Services (FSS) with a $13,310 grant for the Meals On Wheels program. The FSS Meals On Wheels program since 2000 has served approximately 40,000 meals each year.
FSS Executive Director Debbie Britt said the grant will provide the Meals On Wheels program with much-needed freezer space and other equipment that is critical in the management and delivery of services.
Britt noted that the financial support from the Walmart Foundation is desperately needed as many Meals On Wheels programs across the country continue to struggle with skyrocketing gasoline costs and rising food prices.
The Walmart Foundation-Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) “Building the Future” Impact Grant will allow Fayette Senior Services to buy equipment and help ensure sustainability while fostering long-term growth, said Britt.
“Thanks to the Walmart Foundation-MOWAA Building the Future Impact Grant, we now have a brighter future in our efforts to keep feeding seniors in our community,” said Ginnie Plunkett, Meals On Wheels Coordinator, explaining that FSS community volunteers deliver nearly 40,000 meals annually to seniors who have difficulty preparing a nutritious meal due chronic illness, disability, or economic distress. “This grant will help us provide the next meal to the nearly 300 clients we serve throughout Fayette County.”
And Meals On Wheels is more than a meal delivered to a residence.
“Senior hunger is very real and cuts across all the socioeconomic lines. We have 150 volunteers that deliver the meals and do a wellness check.,” Britt said. “So that interaction contributes to the wellness of the community and it helps people remain in their home with dignity and respect.”
As for FSS, its mission will only intensify in the future since Fayette County has the third fastest-growing senior population in the 10-county metro Atlanta area and is expected to see a 450 percent increase in the senior population by 2040.
And that is why grants from organizations such as Walmart are so critical, Britt said.
The Walmart Foundation recently announced a $5 million donation to MOWAA as part of a $2 billion commitment to support hunger relief efforts through 2015. Part of that $5 million donation will fund the “Building the Future” Impact Grants. The grants will help more than 100 local Meals On Wheels programs purchase stoves, refrigerators, trucks and other equipment needed in the fight to end senior hunger.
“We know that seniors are among those hardest hit by hunger in this country. Many are home-bound, and rely on neighbors and community volunteer programs like Meals On Wheels to help put food on the table,” said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation. “Through this $5 million grant, we hope to bring additional attention to senior hunger and help ensure our parents, grandparents and friends who have added so much to our lives have access to healthy and nutritious food.”
The Walmart Foundation first became a partner of Meals On Wheels in 2008. A donation of $750,000 to MOWAA helped 80 struggling Member programs restore meal services that had been reduced or were facing cuts. In late 2009, the Foundation donated an additional $2.2 million to MOWAA that helped 147 Member programs expand their meal services with new equipment.
“The Walmart Foundation continues to step up to the plate in the fight against senior hunger,” said Enid Borden, President and CEO of MOWAA. “They understand that joining Meals On Wheels in this battle is a moral imperative. The Walmart Foundation’s generous support helps ensure our programs sustain meal services well into the future. We can’t thank the Walmart Foundation enough for being such a powerful partner in our mission to end senior hunger in America by the year 2020.”
