What is Older Americans Month, Anyway?
In 1963 John F. Kennedy declared May to be Senior’s Month as a way to acknowledge the accomplishments of our past and present older citizens. President Lyndon Johnson signed Older American’s Month into law in 1965.
This year’s theme is Get into the Act to encourage healthy aging and community involvement for seniors.
Healthy Eating = Healthy Aging
At the St. Louis Area Foodbank, we are doing our best to better serve the community of low-income seniors by partnering with the State of Missouri and Illinois as part of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
This program provides a nutritious box of food every month to qualifying seniors who are 60 and older and who meet the income requirements set by the USDA. We are excited to be able to provide this service to over 8,800 seniors in seven counties in Missouri and two in Illinois.
Cardinal Ritter Senior Services, just one of the many agencies who distribute the CSFP boxes, had this to say about the program:
“For our low-income senior adults living in our affordable housing apartments, the monthly CSFP food box is such a blessing. It is so beneficial in providing our residents with something extra that allows them to stretch their limited budgets. And as the items they receive month-to-month change, it provides some variety in their diet, as well. We feel very fortunate that we are able to partner with the St. Louis Area Foodbank in providing this program to our residents.”
More Care to Share
In addition to CSFP, we proudly provide SNAP (food stamp) application assistance to the people living in the St. Louis Area Foodbank’s 26-county service territory.
We help with filling out and submitting the application, answer questions about the program, and provide follow-up assistance as well. This is extremely important, given only one third of eligible seniors receive SNAP benefits.
Suzi Seeker provides this service in Missouri where eight percent of seniors are living in poverty and Andrea Hale in Illinois where eleven percent are living in poverty as well.
Please join us at the Foodbank in celebrating our older friends and neighbors!
If you’d like to Get into the Act and volunteer with the St. Louis Area Foodbank, click here to sign up today.
