Pa. Secretary of Aging delivers meals with Berks community leaders

Pennsylvania Department of Aging Secretary Teresa Osborne, along with Berks County community leaders, recently participated in the Berks Encore Meals on Wheels Celebrity Volunteer-for-a-Day event in Reading in recognition of March for Meals month.

“The Wolf Administration is grateful for the efforts put forth every day by Meals on Wheels programs and volunteers across the commonwealth,” said Secretary Osborne. “Local meal programs, like Berks Encore, are key to the commitment we share to ensure that older Pennsylvanians live and age well in their homes and communities.”

According to Meals on Wheels America, March 2017 marks the 15th annual “March for Meals” campaign – a month-long celebration to rally communities across the country around our vulnerable seniors. March for Meals was created to commemorate the month in 1972 when President Nixon signed into law a measure that amended the Older Americans Act and established a national nutrition program for seniors 60 years and older. Since 2002, the March for Meals has grown into a full-scale awareness, fundraising and volunteer recruitment campaign involving and supporting the network of local Meals on Wheels programs.

Congregate and homedelivered meals represent a large and important segment of the nutrition services provided by the aging services network, as one of the few resources available in combating senior hunger in Pennsylvania. With over 3.9 million Baby Boomers projected to become eligible for aging services in Pennsylvania by 2020, the department anticipates the demand for congregate and home-delivered meal services to rise concurrently and become that much more important to ensuring that the nutritional and health needs of seniors are adequately met while help- ing them to age in place in their homes and communities.

President Trump’s blueprint budget eliminates both the Community Services Block Grant and Community Development Block Grant, which provide funding to some local Meals on Wheels programs. Though details on Meals on Wheels’ primary funding source, the Older Americans Act, have not yet been provided, the stated 17.9 percent cut to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services would likely have a negative impact on senior nutrition programs.

“For more than 50 years, the Older Americans Act has served as the primary piece of federal legislation that supports nutrition services for Americans age 60 and older,” said Secretary Osborne. “These services are already aligned with the federal cost- containment policy designed to help older adults maintain their independence and age in place, while also providing other benefits such as improvement in dietary adherence, increased socialization, and higher quality of life.”

In fiscal year 2015-16, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and its network of Area Agencies on Aging provided over 5.7 million home-delivered meals.

“Local meal programs, like Berks Encore, are key to the commitment we share to ensure that older Pennsylvanians live and age well in their homes and communities.” — Pennsylvania Department of Aging Secretary Teresa Osborne