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CCCOA making cutbacks
The non-profit agency has had to cut 112 people out of their Meals on Wheels program under a looming $1 million deficit.
By Danny Gallagher, McKinney Courier-Gazette
The Collin County Committee on Aging has stopped delivering meals to some lower-priority clients in the midst of a $1 million deficit that could create more cutbacks if donors don't step up to help.
Marilyn Stidham, chief executive officer of CCCOA, said those who have been removed from the program have been put on a waiting list to make room for higher-priority clients who cannot take care of themselves and face a risk of malnutrition without their help. That leaves 488 clients who receive regular meals from the Committee as of Friday.
"When we go in and assess people, we ask things like can you prepare your own meals? Can you cook? Do you have anybody to cook for you?" Stidham said. "There may be people who have dementia or are getting over a broken hip or are blind. There are all sorts of things that may affect someone's ability to prepare their own meals. Several of our clients in that 112 number are people that when they went on the meal [program] really needed help, but have gotten well or have a caregiver living with them and have the help they really need."
Lillian Jaffin White Stevens, a resident of the Grand Texan senior retirement center in McKinney, receives a daily meal from the CCCOA. She came to McKinney from New Jersey with a doctorate from Stanford University and even though she still writes books and stories almost every day, she is blind and requires round-the-clock care.
"I live frugally and I don't want to ask my children for help," she said. "I don't want them to have to help me. At 94, I'm still very independent and I think God for my alertness."
She is one of the Committee's remaining clients who receive a meal everyday.
"I'm eternally grateful for them," she said. "I could not exist when I got here originally without 'Meals on Wheels.' They are a marvelous, marvelous institution. If I weren't so blinded at this age, I would continue to support them indefinitely."
The cutbacks stem from a rising budget deficit that could reach as high as $1 million by next October. Stidham said expenditures for the program have risen in just about every area from gasoline and delivery costs to food and meal preparations.
"Those little Styrofoam cups that we Jell-o or salad in, the plastic lids alone six years ago were half a cent," Stidham said. "Now they cost about six cents."
Collin County's near exponential population growth also created a greater demand for the program than the Committee anticipated, Stidham said.
"So many seniors live completely alone," Stidham said. "Sometimes the only person they see is another 'Meals on Wheels' volunteer."
The Committee aims to raise the missing $1 million in budgeted funding by October through state and federal monies and help from local donors and volunteers. Stidham said the Committee has started planning fundraisers including a "Beatlegrass" concert at the McKinney Performing Arts Center on Aug. 9 and teatime at the Stonebridge Country Club later in the fall.
Stidham also said the Committee accepts all donations, no matter how large or small.
"We're encouraged and optimistic the community will rally together and help take care of these seniors," Stidham said. "If you see a lot of people or charities in need and say why don't these people get a job, find a new trade or pull themselves up by their bootstraps, these people can't do that. They often are completely dependent on this agency and this agency is nothing without the community."
The Committee can be found on the web at www.cccoaweb.org.
Contact Danny Gallagher at dgallagher@acnpapers.com.
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