Walmart Foundation Supports Meals On Wheels in the Fight to End Senior Hunger

Recent studies show that as many as one out of nine U.S. seniors is going hungry. With rising food prices, declining donations, and growing demand for food services due to the economic downturn, this startling number is likely to increase.

As a part of our initiative to reduce U.S. hunger, the Walmart Foundation wanted to make sure that our nation’s hungry seniors were included in our efforts

Teaming up with Meals On Wheels

We teamed up with the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), the nation’s oldest and largest charitable food services organization. Each day, local MOWAA Member programs deliver more than 1,000,000 meals to seniors across the country.

Through a Foundation grant of $750,000 in 2008, MOWAA awarded special grants to 80 local Meals On Wheels programs in 40 states.

The local programs, selected through a competitive grant process, were awarded grants of up to $10,000 to feed homebound seniors who would have otherwise gone hungry.

An Additional grant of $2.2 million

In 2009, the Walmart Foundation awarded an additional grant of $2.2 million to MOWAA. Through this funding, 140 MOWAA programs across the nation will be able to upgrade or replace delivery vehicles, stoves, refrigerators and freezers. These improvements will help increase the number of meals provided to seniors facing the threat of hunger.

Here are just a few examples of how our support of MOWAA is helping local communities:

• Meals on Wheels of Rockland Inc. in Nanuet, N.Y., reduced the number of individuals on its waiting list by 10 percent.
• Mid-America Nutrition Program, Inc. in Ottawa, Kan., restored hot meal delivery back to five days a week in rural Kansas.
• Lifescape Community Services, Inc. in Rockford, Ill., provided meals to individuals who had been on waiting lists for up to a year

For a list of all the MOWAA programs that received Cure Grants, please view the Meals on Wheels news release.

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