Support for Meals on Wheels
By U.S Senator John Kerry
Each day in communities across the country, including Berkshire County, thousands of volunteers bring healthy meals to those in need. Other seniors, who are able, make the choice to gather at senior and community centers like the Froio Center in Pittsfield for meals with their friends.
For half a century, the Meals on Wheels program has worked towards the social, physical, nutritional and economic betterment of our nation’s elderly and homebound citizens. The nutritious meals significantly improve the quality of life and the health of hundreds of thousands of people across America.
And for many, it is not only a hot, nutritious meal, but also a lifeline to the outside world.
As our population ages, the need for nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels also grows. And as the baby boom generation continues to age, the need is only going to grow. In 2006, the first Baby Boomers were eligible to receive Older Americans Act services such as Meals on Wheels.
In the past, with a Republican Congress and Administration, it has been difficult to secure federal funding for Meals on Wheels, but in the coming years we have a chance to change things — to move forward rather than just preserve this worthy effort.
Now, during the 111th Congress — a Congress led by Democrats and Democratic priorities — we will work with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to help meet the Meals on Wheels program’s growing needs. But unlike in recent years, we will be able to work with a President and a Secretary of Health and Human Services who share our commitment to the long-term future of the Meals on Wheels program. The people of Berkshire County who rely on the Meals on Wheels program should view President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle as true partners in the effort to increase the program's funding, as many of us in Congress do.
We must also continue to work on making transportation more affordable — to keep the “wheels” of Meals on Wheels in motion. After months of skyrocketing gas prices, we shouldn't assume the current lower prices will hold. Program officials are worried that volunteers across the country will no longer be able to afford to provide their own transportation, and rightly so. I will continue to work to support efforts to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and make more affordable and cleaner fuels more easily accessible to consumers.
I will continue to push for additional funding of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a program essential to helping our most vulnerable seniors cope with costs of heating their homes, because no one should have to choose between putting food on the table and heating their homes.
This is a test of who we are and how we care for our mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends and neighbors. I will continue to advocate on behalf of Massachusetts seniors to ensure that no senior goes hungry.
To contact Massachusetts U.S. Senator John Kerry, call 413-785-4610 or in Washington, 202-224-2742, or send an email via his website http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/office.cfm.
