The Fentress County Senior Center Director said she hopes to use recent grant money for a new delivery vehicle.
Director Kelly Young said she wants the new vehicle to help deliver meals to seniors’ homes.
“Sometimes we may be the only face they see in a days time,” Young said. “These people are usually, well they are, homebound. They get this meal and it’s a hot fresh meal approved by dietitians so its healthy for them.”
The Senior Center delivers 60 to 64 meals to homebound individuals daily. Young said adding a new vehicle to the system will help make the program more efficient.
“We have four routes that we take everyday,” Young said. “We span the whole county from one end to the other. We have four drivers. There are time limits, so we have to have those four drivers to have the food delivered in a timely manner.”
Young said she would also like to get specific heat trays for the deliveries.
The Food Insecurity CDBG Grant is a no-match grant. The Senior Center will split the $327,000 with the Food Bank, Feed My Lands, and the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
“We are very thankful for the opportunity,” Young said. “We’re very appreciative to Amanda Mainord, the County Grant writer, our county executive and all those that have their hands in on helping us make this program what it is, and the support that they’ve given. We are excited to move forward and continue to do the best we can for our aging population.”
Young said it was Mainord who put the Senior Center up for the grant.
“We were were all asked to come up with a list of things that could help,” Young said. “She came to us. She did all the footwork. All the hard work that goes into preparing a grant. All we did was really give her the list, so she got us in and helped us out with this.”
In order to purchase the new truck or any equipment with the grant money, it would have to be approved by the county. Young said they still have not received the grant money but expects to very soon.
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