Enterprise grant provides Sussex seniors with fresh produce, protein

March 12, 2019

Thanks to a generous $75,000 grant from Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, Delaware’s food-insecure senior citizens in Sussex County will have access to quality foods – fruits, vegetables, and proteins – that will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Senior residents in Delmar Crossing’s Villas, for example, receive additional food delivered to the neighborhood community center, explains manager LaAngela Todd. These residents must meet age and income qualifications.

Todd noted that residents look forward to their food boxes on the second Monday of each month, and the community’s maintenance man delivers boxes to the door of those who are unable – due to physical limitations – to come pick them up. “It helps a lot,” she added.

In addition to the box of shelf-stable food, each participant receives a frozen chicken and 10 pounds of fresh produce.

According to Feeding America’s 2016 State of Senior Hunger Report, 16.7 percent of Delaware seniors are listed as food insecure to marginally food insecure. The Food Bank of Delaware’s CFSP program serves income-qualified seniors statewide by providing staples to supplement their diet and stretch their food budgets. Each month, the Food Bank of Delaware distributes boxes to 2,124 seniors through 64 sites statewide. Seventy-six percent of the participants in Sussex County are women.

The Enterprise grant specifically targets seniors in Sussex County, a rural area where transportation is somewhat challenging. In addition, an average meal in Sussex County – according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap – costs $3.39 to meet a senior’s nutritional needs, higher than in the state’s other two counties. So thanks to Enterprise, Sussex County seniors are receiving their monthly box through CSFP, plus a chicken and fresh produce.

Meanwhile, Todd praised the Food Bank’s programs. “It is a good program. I hope it is continued. Most of them probably need the food to get them through. I know they appreciate it, and they like the fresh produce, the fruit and vegetables,” she said.

Visit www.fbd.org to learn more about the Food Bank’s programs and how you can help support these programs through contributions and volunteer opportunities.

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