Local Feeding Agencies Celebrate 50th Anniversary of National Hunger Program

March 16, 2022 – Sarasota

On March 22, feeding agencies in Sarasota and Manatee Counties will come together at Senior Friendship Centers to join the Administration for Community Living and senior nutrition service providers across the country to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the national Senior Nutrition Program.

Congressman Vern Buchanan and Bob Blancato, executive director of the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP), will speak to seniors having lunch at the Senior Friendship Centers dining center in downtown Sarasota, 1888 Brother Geenen Way, at noon.

From 12:45 to 3:00 p.m., Blancato will speak about senior hunger with representatives of Senior Friendship Centers, Meals on Wheels of Sarasota, Meals on Wheels of North Port, Meals on Wheels of Manatee, Sarasota County Health and Human Services, All Faiths Food Bank, JFCS of the Suncoast, and Mayor’s Feed the Hungry. He will also discuss benefit resources, and the role of senior advocacy in policymaking.

Blancato also serves as the National Coordinator of the 3000-member Elder Justice Coalition and National Coordinator of the Defeat Malnutrition Today coalition. He has long been recognized as a national advocate with policy expertise on behalf of older adults.

Since 1972, the Senior Nutrition Program has supported nutrition services for older adults. Funded by the Older Americans Act, local senior nutrition programs serve as hubs for older adults (60 and older) to access nutritious meals and other vital services that strengthen social connections and promote health and well-being.

Senior nutrition is now more important than ever. Each year in the U.S., up to half of adults age 65 and older are at risk of malnutrition, and more than 10 million face hunger. Senior Friendship Centers has been the Sarasota County meals provider for the program since 1973, and serves over 290,000 meals per year across Southwest Florida. In communities throughout the U.S. – including our own – older adults sometimes lack access to the high-quality, nutritious food they need to remain healthy and independent.

Senior Friendship Centers provides meals in satellite dining centers in Sarasota, DeSoto, Charlotte, and Lee Counties, and also delivers free meals to adults ages 60 and over. Once a week Senior Friendship Centers delivers the meals frozen, making them easy to prepare and store. Each meal is nutritionally calculated for the needs of older adults, and there is no financial requirement for someone to qualify for the program.

“People facing financial insecurity may buy pet food, prescriptions or pay an electricity bill instead of spending money on food, but this visionary program recognizes that senior hunger isn’t always related to financial status,” said Erin McLeod, president and CEO of Senior Friendship Centers. “Older adults may have lost a spouse who did the cooking, have limited mobility, have lost their ability to go to the grocery store, or be experiencing depression or cognitive decline. Without the meals we serve, they may pass on eating altogether.”

Food insecurity is rampant, but collecting data about seniors who are hungry is challenging. SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) benefits must be initiated by registering online, and many seniors aren’t able to access the technology. Up to two-thirds of seniors who qualify for SNAP benefits don’t apply for them. Senior Friendship Centers assists seniors with signing up for benefits and provides technology training.

“Older adults may think they will be taken out of their homes if anyone knows they’re hungry, so they go unreported,” McLeod said. “Hidden hunger in the senior population is a real challenge, even here in our community. But there are wonderful agencies each doing their part to address a piece of the puzzle. Senior Friendship Centers is proud to stand with our partners and elevate the awareness and responsiveness to this issue.

Our collective goal is to work together to ensure the seniors in our neighborhoods don’t face hunger or food insecurity. We are just scratching the surface of the needs with food, but it’s a start. Once we make that connection, we discover there are many other ways we can help make their journey of aging a little easier. There are generous resources to tap that will ease their emotional, financial, and physical burdens. This coalition of agencies is organizing to create a stronger safety net so no senior has to go it alone, or be hungry.”

For more information, call (941) 955-2122, or visit friendshipcenters.org.