CAS receives grant from Columbia Gas
Community Action Southwest (CAS) recently received a $1,850 grant from Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania/ Columbia Gas of Maryland to support the Home Delivered Meals program which helps seniors in Greene County meet their nutritional needs.
In fiscal year 2009, Community Action Southwest prepared and served 18,676 congregate meals to 451 seniors in Greene County. In addition, 30,384 meals were delivered to 237 homebound consumers that same year.
One hundred percent of the meals are delivered by volunteer drivers. Currently, the program has 286 active volunteers. All of the program’s drivers are seniors themselves ranging in age from 66-80. The monetary support from Columbia Gas insures the program will sustain its current level of volunteers.
CAS representatives said the Home Delivered Meals program is “exceedingly valuable” to the Greene County community.
Home-delivered meals provide a community-based and community-supported system for helping people to remain independent in their homes. The program helps to provide early identification and outreach to seniors who may be in need of other services.
The goal is to help seniors remain independent in their own homes. The project puts a volunteer in the elderly person’s home on a daily basis whereby the volunteer has the opportunity to assess the situation and report any concerns to trained staff that can then provide linkages to needed services.
For more information on Community Action Southwest, call toll-free 877.814.0788 or visit the website at www.caswg.org.