A non-profit organization that provides food to elderly and homebound people is asking Travis County for money to help deal with the sequester. Those across-the-board federal spending cuts include about $120,000 that would have gone to a local Meals on Wheels program that pays for food to be delivered to senior centers run by the city or the county.
The organization is requesting $61,000 from Travis County to pay for the "Congregate Meals Program."
“The shortfall comes at a time when demand is probably as high as it's ever been. Our community is growing grayer," says Thad Rosenfeld with Meals on Wheels. "Not all these folks that move here or that are growing gray are going to need our services, but there are a lot of them that will, and we want to be able to provide them with the assistance they need.”
Meals on Wheels says it has tried to secure money from other sources. It received a $140,000 grant from the Saint David's Foundation. It has pending applications to the Texas Veterans Commission and the local social welfare non-profit A Glimmer of Hope Austin.
Travis County Commissioners are scheduled to take up the issue at their meeting Tuesday. You can watch the meeting online.
