Putting it to good use

Comments (...)

Jana Amsler packs boxed dinners for Grundy County seniors who take part in the Community Nutrition Network’s home-delivered meal program. The boxed dinners are a recent addition made possible by funds received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (Herald Photo by Heidi Terry-Litchfield)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Comments

Share

Grundy County residents over age 60 will be able to find reasonably priced dining alternatives throughout the county thanks to the Older Americans Act portion of the federal stimulus package.

Community Nutrition Network received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that have allowed it to offer additional services to clients and all persons over the age of 60.

While CNN currently offers a hot-meal home-delivery service to Grundy County residents, it is now also able to offer boxed meals for dinner to those same residents.

Diane Bumgarner, site manager and regional director for CNN in Grundy County, said that, with the help of the stimulus funds, an additional 400 boxed meals were able to be delivered in September.

In addition to its regular services, Bumgarner said CNN is currently offering cafe meals in several of the county’s communities.

Previously those sites were limited, but the funds the organization received has allowed it to offer more.

“We served 385 cafe meals in addition to the normal meals in September,” she said.

While the Saratoga congregation site is open five days a week, CNN only offer those meals in Coal City once a week and Mazon two times a month.

The cafe meals are coordinated with area restaurant owners and provide seniors a nutritious meal at a reasonable cost.

She explained that, by having the cafe meals at various locations, it helps determine the need for that specific area.

They’ve held breakfast and lunch buffets at Whistlestop Cafe in Diamond; Maurella’s, Bean Encounters, and Granny’s Pancake House in Minooka; and currently are planning for a cafe event at R Place in Morris.

Bumgarner said the residents are asked for donations at the cafe site of $5 (or $4.25 if it’s a catered meal and there are no servers). The stimulus money allows CNN to pick up the rest of the bill.

“The goal is to offer affordable meals that fit their needs,” she said. “Each meal must offer milk and fit the guidelines for a nutritious meal.”

Along with offering a meal, the cafe sites help target another goal of the program, which is to get seniors out of their homes and together with their peers.

She said they are looking for more locations in the different communities and are hoping to find one in the Gardner-South Wilmington Area, which they haven’t served yet.

The stimulus money will also help CNN serve hot meals to some of the more rural areas more often, according to Bumgarner.

“Some of the rural areas we are only able to get someone out there once a week and we give them frozen meals for the rest of the week,” she said. “We just aren’t able to reach some areas in Mazon or Goose Lake on a daily basis.”

CNN relies mostly on volunteers to distribute the meals and do a safety check on it’s clients.

“We have a lot of volunteers,” she said. “But never enough.”

CNN requests those receiving home meals donate $3 per meal if they are able.

In 2009, there were 20,032 meals served at cafe sites and 15,667 meals delivered to home-bound seniors.
 

Comments