County cannot fund new Meals on Wheels clients until April 2017

By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

Local Meals on Wheels affiliates are in a bind, according to North Area Meals on Wheels board member David Robinson. At the Nov. 22 North Syracuse Village Board of Trustees meeting, Robinson said the Onondaga County Office for Aging is unable to fund new MOW applicants until next spring.

“We’ve been notified by the Office of Aging that from now until April … they are not able to support any new clients that want to get into the program,” Robinson said.

NAMOW is in the midst of its annual fall fundraising appeal. Robinson said the organization normally requires about $100,000 per year to function, but this year’s goal is higher to accommodate new clients who won’t be funded by the county.

“The bottom line is instead of having to raise $100,000, we’re going to have to raise about $125,000,” Robinson said.

NAMOW projects that its 250 volunteers will have prepared and delivered more than 110,000 meals for senior citizens in northern Onondaga County by the end of 2016.

“We have a two-[fold] client base: One is a private pay base and the other one is supported by the Office of Aging. … The North Area Meals on Wheels board said, ‘We’re not going to turn people away,” Robinson said. “We get about eight new clients a week that we need to feed.”

According to NAMOW’s fall newsletter, NAMOW served 40,479 meals between May and August 2016, an 18.8 percent increase over the 34,063 meals served in the summer of 2016. Nearly half of NAMOW’s clients are disabled and just over half live alone. Forty-five percent of clients are older than 85.

Driver’s Village will match the first $5,000 donated to NAMOW for its fall appeal. To donate, visit namow.org or send a check to North Area Meals on Wheels, 413 Church St., North Syracuse NY 13212.