- Elder Care Services will receive $990,000 from the state budget for Meals on Wheels Kitchen renovations.
- The program provides 250 meals every day.
- Watch the video above to learn more about the impact those renovations will have on the agency's ability to serve neighbors.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
"Our goal is to expand our production and our capacity!"
That's Elder Care Services Nutrition Department director, Michael Henderson.
Henderson spends a lot of time supervising in the kitchen, especially for their Meals on Wheels program.
"The more people we can help, the more meals we can produce; the more we can help the community."
The Meals on Wheels program serves about 250 meals a day. Now, Elder Care Services looks to up that number with the state funding they're receiving.
Elder Care Services is part of the few non-profit organizations that's receiving money from the Florida state budget.
Out of the 116.5-billion-dollar budget approved by Governor DeSantis, Elder Care Services will get $990,000 with their eyes set on expanding their meal kitchen.
In the kitchen, Elder Services has a daily menu that's prepared hot and fresh every day. They prepare food in their ovens and boilers then go into the community serving them with food treys as part of their Meals on Wheels program.
"Everything that we find in life that allows us to help people is generally driven by "do you have the resources to do it."
Resources like money. that money they're receiving will go to the new kitchen renovations. Renovations would specifically include expanded storage capacity for a wider variety of fresh ingredients and upgraded appliances for food preparation and safety.
I asked Elder Care services CEO President, Jocelyne Fliger, about the funding and their vision in future.
"Elder Care services is very excited about the recent state budget. We're going to expand the footprint of the kitchen by a thousand feet and we're really going to look at how to maximize the space inside."
Maximizing space… but also maximizing connections with our neighbors.
"Meals on Wheels is actually more than a meal; we look forward to having that interaction with individuals in the community just so they know someone cares!"
