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Mar 22

Sustenance For the Body and the Soul – Lynchburg News and Advance

Diets that Work Comments Off on Sustenance For the Body and the Soul – Lynchburg News and Advance

One day, it just might be you.

A senior, home-bound or just home from the hospital and unable to do much for himself. A disabled person, unable to work and trying to scrape by on disability payments. Someone, living by herself with no friends or family nearby, and recovering from a medical episode.

Those are the people helped each and every day by Meals on Wheels of Greater Lynchburg. Tuesday, community leaders from across Central Virginia rode shotgun with Meals on Wheels volunteers as they went about their appointed daily rounds, delivering a hot meal to more than 660 folks and checking in to see how theyre faring. The ride-along gave them the chance to see up close a side of Central Virginia thats often hidden from view.

And if you wonder whether or not the success rate of Meals on Wheels is, in any way, quantifiable, just consider these numbers:

In 2016, Meals on Wheels served 663 Central Virginians, 106 more than in 2015.

Volunteers delivered 75,354 hot meals to seniors and others in need, 13,456 more than in 2015.

And because companionship of any kind is so rare in many of these folks lives, Meals on Wheels also provided 123 pet owners food for their furry friends and companions.

In 2016, Meals on Wheels army of volunteers logged 16,728 volunteer hours and 87,313 volunteer miles serving others throughout Central Virginia.

But when you look back just a couple of years, you see how much the need has truly grown in our region. In 2014, volunteers delivered 50,000 hot meals to 388 clients. Thats almost a 71 percent growth in the number of clients and almost a 51 percent jump in the number of hot meals delivered.

Meals on Wheels of Greater Lynchburg receives 100 percent of its funding from local sources. Individual donations account for half of the nonprofits annual budget, while grants, fundraising events and contributions from churches and other houses of worship account for the rest. There are no state or federal dollars involved.

People of all ages and all incomes are accepted into the program. More than 8 percent of clients pay full price for the service; about 16 percent pay on a sliding scale based on ones ability to pay; and about 76 percent receive their meals at no charge. Meals are diabetic and heart-friendly, and staff can even work with a clients doctor to provide special diets.

So many people, especially the elderly living on their own, are in danger of being food insecure and lapsing into an unhealthy diet that simply keeps them functioning. Just stop to consider that a years worth of home-delivered meals costs about as much as a days stay in a hospital, and you begin to see the great value of Meals on Wheels. Keeping people healthy in their homes is much more cost-effective than getting them healthy in a hospital.

Learn more about Meals on Wheels of Greater Lynchburg at http://www.mealsonwheelslynchburg.org. A contribution of either your time or your resources will ripple through the community and the lives of hundreds of people in ways you cant even imagine.

Read more:
Sustenance For the Body and the Soul - Lynchburg News and Advance

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