Guest blog post by Community Health Education Coordinator Piniel Tadesse
Grocery Bags for Seniors (GBS) is one of the longest running programs at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and has some of our most loyal volunteers. The program provides groceries delivered door-to-door to address factors such as fixed income, social isolation, and food access. The program aims to maximize resources for seniors through collaboration with other agencies including Wake County Housing Authority and Meals on Wheels of Wake County.
According to the latest report on senior hunger by Feeding America, 9% of seniors in North Carolina experience food insecurity, and that number increases to 9.7% for Raleigh, NC. In addition to challenges experienced by the general population, lack of access to transportation, functional limitations, and health problems put seniors at a greater risk for hunger.
Our GBS program addresses senior hunger by providing monthly bags full of healthy food items from every food group. Fresh produce such as carrots, potatoes, onions, apples, and oranges, plus beans, rice, pasta and shelf-stable milk are included, as available. During the 2018-2019 fiscal year, 1,900 bags were packed and delivered each month to seniors in 29 low-income communities--an increase by 346 from the previous year.
Grocery Bags for Seniors aims to create an enjoyable experience for volunteers, interns, and recipients. There are groups who have volunteered for more than 25 years. The door-to-door delivery method helps volunteers and recipients get to know each other and provides recipients with friendly and familiar faces every month. The program also provides college students in the area with service and learning opportunities. Interns work closely with staff members and volunteers to facilitate the packing process at our warehouse and prepare simple and healthy recipes that are useful to our seniors.
Our Community Health Education (CHE) team uses the Grocery Bags for Seniors program, along with Seniors Eating Well and Cooking Matters for Adults classes, to increase seniors’ access to healthy food and encourage cooking and healthy dietary practices. We include healthy recipe cards with the grocery bags to equip seniors with more ways to prepare and consume the food items delivered to them.
Following the “stay-at-home" order due to COVID-19, the Food Shuttle staff has stepped up to deliver grocery bags with the help of the National Guard. Personal contact has been minimized by eliminating conversations during delivery and placing grocery bags at recipients’ doorsteps. We have continued to place educational print materials in grocery bags to address the need for nutrition education in the absence of our in-person classes.
None of the work we do here at the Food Shuttle would be possible without the support of our community partners. Please donate today to make a difference in the lives of parents and grandparents in our communities.