The National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Chapter 1191 held its monthly meeting from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Bella Italia Restaurant in Ennis on Tues., 8 Mar 2022. The guest speaker was Lisa Deese, Director of Development for Meals on Wheels of North Central Texas. The speaker is originally from DeSoto and had previously been Volunteer Coordinator for Dallas Life.
Meals on Wheels of North Central Texas, with main office located at 106 E. Kilpatrick St. in Cleburne, TX, serves Johnson, Ellis and Navarro Counties with 24 staff members. The program serves seniors who suffer from hunger, social isolation, anxiety and depression which have been increased due to covid. The program is described as need based rather than income based. Seniors aged 60 and above who didn’t have enough to eat rose froom 2.8 % in 2019 to 4.9 % in 2020, a 75 % increase. One in four adults aged 65 or older reported anxiety or depression during the pandemic. Thirty eight percent of clients are aged 80 or above, 46 % live alone, 16 % are veterans, and 71 % are at or below poverty level
In Fiscal Year 2021, the program served 230,662 meals to 1,437 clients and 14,824 pounds of pet food to companion pets. It costs $9.25 to deliver a meal with 952 meals currently being delivered each day. The program is described as a three-legged stool with one leg being the seniors with need, another the volunteers to deliver the hot meals, and funding and contributions. The month of March is being celebrated as March for Meals, recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Older Americans Act, in part with a clay shoot fund raiser on March 25. Ref the website below for ways to request assistance or to volunteer and make contributions. www.mownct.org
NARFE Chap. 1191 covers Ellis, Navarro and adjacent parts of the surrounding counties. Membership in NARFE is open to all active and retired federal employees and their spouses, former federal employees, and former spouses who are entitled to a federal survivor annuity. For more information, please call Midlothian at 972-268-5793 or 972-775-2463, Waxahachie – 469-552-6649, Ennis – 214-949-6197, Red Oak – 412-722-6307, or Corsicana – 903-874-3092. You may also go to www.narfe.org or see NARFE Chapter 1191 on Facebook.
