Golf legend Arnold Palmer delivered the five millionth meal of Winston-Salem’s Meals-on-Wheels program, on behalf of Senior Services, to senior Juanita McBride on Friday, October 18.
Delivering the meal in a golf cart, he was accompanied by Dan Kinney, a long-time M-O-W volunteer. (The lunch consisted of pork loin, lima beans, mandarin oranges, sweet potato casserole, dinner roll, and milk.)
The delivery of the five millionth M-O-W meal by the 84-year-old Palmer to 84-year-old McBride marks the start of a senior boom in Forsyth County as Baby Boomers age into this demographic. It highlights the growing issue of food insecurity among seniors in Forsyth County and all North Carolina counties, a population that will increase exponentially in the next decade.
“It took Meals-on-Wheels 51 years from its inception in 1962 to deliver five million meals, but it may take less than four years to deliver the next one million given the expected senior boom,” said Richard Gottlieb, President and CEO of Senior Services. “This will challenge our human and financial resources to meet the exploding demand for serving the hungry seniors in our community.
Feeding America estimates 11,000 individuals, age 60 and older, experience food insecurity in Forsyth County on a regular basis. In the past year, Meals-on-Wheels served over a quarter of a million meals to 1,652 elderly. Within 10 – 15 years, M-O-W may be serving 3,000 homebound seniors.
Meals-on-Wheels of Seniors Services, Inc., is the oldest home-delivered meals program in the southeast and the third oldest in the nation.
For more information call 336-725-0907 or visit www.seniorservicesinc.org.