By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

North Area Meals on Wheels’ annual pasta night March 23 was packed with families and volunteers, young and old, community leaders and average residents. There was such a large turnout, NAMOW Program Director Jennifer Covert said, that there was a meatball shortage.

But if a proposed 18 percent cut to the Department of Health and Human Services is approved with next year’s federal budget, many Meals on Wheels organizations across the county could be short more than meatballs.

“[President Donald] Trump’s proposed budget cut is going to affect all the Meals on Wheels differently, and it will definitely be a little bit stressful. We’ll have to fundraise more,” Covert said.

According to NPR, the federal government provides about one-third of MOW funding across the nation. Funding from local governments and donations from other organizations or individuals make up the rest.

Covert said it is too early to tell how possible budget cuts could affect local MOW organizations, but she has been reassuring both her clients and volunteers that NAMOW will come out all right.

“Clients have called after hearing about the budget cuts, worried that they’re not going to get fed, that they’re going to lose their Meals on Wheels,” she said, adding that several of NAMOW’s 250 volunteers have expressed concern as well. “We need to assure them that we’re going to keep taking care of them.”

Since the news of Trump’s budget proposal broke, NAMOW has been fielding calls not only from concerned clients, but from those looking to help.

“We definitely have had people call in asking what they can do to help. We have had local businesses want to be more involved than usual,” Covert said.

It was the budget news, Covert said, that spurred Vince’s Gourmet Imports to pledge to donate the proceeds of its chocolate Easter egg raffle to NAMOW.

Covert said NAMOW’s pasta night is usually not a huge fundraiser, but this year’s dinner coincided with March for Meals Week. The annual campaign celebrates the anniversary of a 1972 amendment to the Older Americans Act of 1965, which established a nutrition program for senior citizens. March for Meals also raises awareness and funds for MOW programs.

Last week, community leaders from around NAMOW’s coverage area pitched in to help assemble and deliver meals. Representing North Syracuse were Police Chief Mike Crowell, Mayor Gary Butterfield and Trustees Pat Gustafson and Fred Fergerson. Cicero’s delegation included Supervisor Mark Venesky, Town Clerk Tracy Cosilmon and soon-to-retire Tax Receiver Sharon Edick. Salina Supervisor Mark Nicotra and Clay Town Clerk Jill Hageman-Clark lent helping hands as well.

Residents oppose MOW cuts

Several attendees of last week’s pasta night said cutting funding for programs such as Meals on Wheels is the wrong way to go.

“I don’t want to see it cut,” said Mark, who preferred not to give his last name. “Between seniors and veterans, I think they should be taken care of.”

Mark and his wife, Debbie, said they donate to NAMOW. Debbie, who is nearing retirement, said she is considering volunteering in the future.

“Cutting those benefits for senior citizens is ridiculous — they work all their life,” Debbie said. “We should take care of them as a society and not toss them away. It just seems to me that our most valuable resources, kids and the elderly, are the ones that get left behind.”

Another diner, Sherry, who also declined to give her last name, said she has a friend in Mattydale who relies on NAMOW.

“There’s lots of seniors that can’t fix their own meals,” Sherry said. “She tells me she gets meals all the time and she didn’t know what she’d do if she didn’t have them.”

Sherry’s dining companion, Steve, said funding for MOW is “not one of the ones they should reduce.”

“I don’t think many people really realize how much seniors — not just seniors — depend on Meals on Wheels,” Steve said.

Keeping an eye on vulnerable populations

Homebound and disabled residents as well as seniors make up NAMOW’s nearly 300 clients. Covert said these clients receive more than food from the organization. They also receive companionship, even if it’s just a brief daily interaction with a delivery volunteer. Also, volunteers can check on residents’ well-being and keep an eye out for safety hazards and needed repairs to a client’s home.

“Sometimes they don’t have any family or any support at all, and if you take that away from them, their life cycle could end a lot sooner than normal,” Covert said. “A happy person typically lives longer. They’re happier when we take care of them, and we need to take care of our seniors.”

While cutting health and human services funding could save money in the short term, Covert said defunding programs for the elderly has long-term financial consequences.

“The biggest thing that people don’t realize is that if seniors don’t stay in their homes and stay independent, they’re going to go into assisted living and hospitals and that is going to cost everybody more money,” she said.

Because no solid numbers have been revealed yet, the federal budget is a wait-and-see situation.

“Personally, NAMOW [is] going to be OK, but hopefully it won’t get passed,” Covert said. “No one’s going to not get fed.

As for what people can do to help, Covert encouraged residents to sign petitions and contact their legislators to show their support for MOW and other programs.

“I had a client who called and said Meals on Wheels saved his life,” Covert said. “You want to take away that program? Doesn’t make any sense.”