Published: November 26, 2009 11:00 pm      

Report highlights problem of hunger

Meals on Wheels organization taking action

RUSSELL — Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital’s Meals on Wheels program has joined similar programs around the country in pledging to end senior hunger by 2020.

The pledge is a reaction to “Senior Hunger in the United States: Differences across States and Rural and Urban Areas,” a national research study examining senior hunger on a state-by-state level.

Conducted by the Meals On Wheels Association of America, the study provides substantial evidence that the number of seniors facing the threat of hunger in America is growing at an alarming rate.

The findings indicate Kentucky ranks 20 out of America’s 50 senior hunger states. The rate of food insecurity among seniors living in Kentucky is 5.4 percent.

OLBH assists with meals being delivered five days a week to elderly or disabled people with food being prepared by a variety of vendors and delivered by volunteers.

OLBH’s local Meals on Wheels routes include the communities of Bellefonte, Burnaugh, Catlettsburg, Flatwoods, Russell, South Ashland, and Westwood, which are served by the OLBH program, and Grayson, Greenup, South Shore and Worthington area volunteers coordinate programs to serve those areas with advisory support from OLBH.

“During this time of Thanksgiving, it is disturbing to learn that so many seniors are going hungry in Kentucky and around the country,” Mary Ellen Conley, OLBH Senior Services coordinator, said. “At our Meals On Wheels program, we work every day to provide our clients not only with nutritious meals, but also with companionship. Our program at OLBH has pledged to join the national movement to end senior hunger by 2020. The need is great and now more so than ever is the time for all Americans to address this dire problem.”

This national movement comes at a good time, as the study shows that about 700,000 more seniors faced the threat of hunger in 2007 than did in 2001. Seniors residing in the South are at greatest risk, according to the report.