The Washington Post has an article about the impact of the sequester on Meals on Wheels programs. Meals on Wheels delivers meals to the elderly, many of whom have difficulty taking care of their own food needs for reasons such as illness and lack of transportation.
The article indicates that because of the sequester cuts, the First United Methodist Church in Hyattsville, Maryland will need to close its Meals on Wheels Program.
“We’re just going to have to close,’’ said Deanna Lesche, the treasurer for the church’s Meals on Wheels program. Its program used to receive $1,200 each quarter; it will now receive only $1,100 all year. That’s not even enough to pay the cook. . . .
Hyattsville’s service isn’t one of the multimillion dollar senior nutrition programs that put on lavish fundraisers. It is run by a 63-year-old church secretary and serves about a dozen clients, some of whom struggle to pay the $2.50 charge per meal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
It is not just the Hyattsville program that has been impacted by the sequester. The cuts
have
led to “one of the most devastating times since Meals on Wheels has existed,’’ said Ellie Hollander, president of the Meals on Wheels Association of America. The organization has been surveying its members, 43 of which are in the D.C. region, about how the sequester will affect them.
About 70 percent of responders to the national organization’s survey plan to reduce the number of meals they deliver, Hollander said. One in six is likely to close, such as the church program in Hyattsville.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
What kind of country are we if we cannot find the funds to make sure that elderly people have enough food to eat, especially when we have no problem giving tax breaks to the rich and subsidizing oil companies?
And the "government programs" the Republicans have targeted for cutting include small local programs which serve the needs of the poor, the elderly and the disabled.
The entire article is well worth the read.