Berkshire Taconic Gives Grants to Meals on Wheels, SHINE

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Elder Services' Nutrition/Meals on Wheels program has received three grants totaling $16,000 from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.  

A grant for $10,000 was received from the William J. and Margery S. Barrett Fund, to help provide meals to seniors in Adams, Cheshire and Savoy.  A second grant of $4,000 was given through BTCF’s Central Berkshire Fund, to defray the costs of providing meals to seniors in Becket, Dalton, Hinsdale, Peru, Washington and Windsor.  The Central Fund also provided a grant of $2,000 for Elder Services’ SHINE program, which provides, free of charge, unbiased health insurance information and guidance to those on Medicare.

Elder Services’ Nutrition/Meals on Wheels program provides hot, nutritious, noontime meals to over 900 Berkshire seniors each weekday. In 2014, Elder Services prepared and served more than 220,000 meals. More than 80 percent were delivered as Meals on Wheels to the homes of frail elders who might not otherwise have had a hot meal or a friendly visit. The remaining meals were served to seniors attending Elder Services’ 14 group lunch sites, located throughout the county.

Elder Services’ Meals on Wheels program provides noontime meals each weekday to frail, homebound seniors. To receive Meals on Wheels, a senior must be 60 years or older and have at least one of the following: a recent hospital or nursing home discharge, a physical or cognitive impairment making it difficult to cook meals, or inadequate kitchen facilities. In addition, a senior must be unable to attend a senior lunch site and have no formal/informal supports for noon meal preparation. There are no income eligibility criteria.

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