County, City Mayors To Deliver Meals March 21



County, City Mayors To Deliver Meals March 21
The Nutrition Program for Older Adults & Adults w/ Disabilities will be participating in the national 2012 March for Meals campaign.  The Upper Cumberland’s Nutrition Program March for Meals event will include County & City Mayors in each of the 14 Upper Cumberland Counties participating and volunteering to deliver meals on March 21, 2012.

“In this tough economy, the food and human contact we provide to seniors in this community is needed more than ever,” said Linda Tramel, Director of Field Services/Nutrition Program. “We need the community to come out and support our March for Meals events. Our clients are counting on us.  We can’t let them down.”

March for Meals is a national campaign held during the month of March, initiated and sponsored by the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), to raise awareness of senior hunger and to encourage action on the part of local communities. Senior Nutrition Programs across the United States, like the Upper Cumberland’s Nutrition Program, promote March For Meals through public events, partnerships with local businesses, volunteer recruitment and fundraising initiatives. This year, Meals On Wheels programs across the country are also celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the inclusion of Senior Nutrition Programs in the Older Americans Act (OAA).  The OAA is the primary piece of federal legislation that authorizes and supports vital nutrition services, both congregate and Home Delivered Meals, to Americans age 60 and older.

“Our Meals On Wheels programs are on the front lines every day in the battle against senior hunger,” said MOWAA President and CEO Enid Borden. “March for Meals is a time when communities can come together to stand with their local Meals On Wheels and support our mission to end senior hunger in America by the year 2020.”

The problem of senior hunger in America is getting worse.  MOWAA-sponsored research revealed that 7.5 million seniors in America face the threat of hunger.  The Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency’s Nutrition Program for Older Adults & Adults w/Disabilities delivered 191,691 Home Delivered Meals and served 84,046 Congregate Meals at our local Senior Centers.  Please continue to support your local Nutrition Program.