The Upper Cumberland Area Agency on Aging and Disability (UCAAAD) was awarded the Community Foundation’s Serving Tennessee’s Seniors grant in January in the amount of $23,964 for the Aging Nutrition Program – a program that provides healthy meals for seniors in need across the fourteen-county Upper Cumberland region.
The grant funds were used to purchase equipment for the nutrition program, including: 55 jumbo electric thermal delivery bags, a 4-well hot table and 8 Cambro pan carriers. The additional equipment is being used to ensure meals are delivered to seniors at a safe temperature and has allowed the program to expand to meet the growing demand of seniors in need.
UCAAAD contracts with the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) to provide home-delivered and congregate meals through the Aging Nutrition Program. In fiscal year 2016, 495 homebound clients received 89,497 home-delivered meals. In the same year, 82,600 congregate meals were served to 1,643 seniors from 17 meal site locations in the Upper Cumberland.
UCHRA currently has more than 70 home-delivered meal routes across the Upper Cumberland. With the jumbo electric high efficiency thermal bags, each delivery vehicle is equipped to maintain the proper food temperature to the most outlying areas of the district.
In addition to home-delivered meals, food is also transported to nutrition sites in bulk. The 8 Cambro portable pan carriers assist in maintaining food temperature through transport and until the meal is served.
The nutrition program is already seeing improvements from the new equipment. UCAAAD Quality Assurance monitoring reports show that the use of the electric thermal bags in combination with the new Cambro bulk food transporters have helped to hold the hot food temperatures at a higher level than before, even for the last stops on the delivery routes.
The grant not only provided improvements to the existing service area but allowed the program to expand to serve more seniors in Smithville. With the purchase of the new 4-well hot table, congregate meals are being served at the Smithville Senior Center four days per week. From April 3 to May 31, this addition has allowed UCHRA to serve 709 meals to 70 seniors in Smithville.
Funding of Serving Tennessee’s Seniors was provided by the Chancery Court and administered by The Community Foundation through the settlement of a lawsuit initiated by Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper against both SeniorTrust and ElderTrust.
The Area Agency on Aging and Disability(AAAD), a division of the Upper Cumberland Development District, connects older adults and adults with disabilities in the 14-county Upper Cumberland region with services and resources to improve their quality of life. Find AAAD on the web at www.ucdd.org and at facebook.com/UCDDconnect. For more information about the Aging Nutrition Program, contact UCAAAD at 1-866-836-6678.
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