Senior Hunger is often described as America’s best kept secret. More than 10 million older adults in the United States face the threat of hunger every day. Here in Marathon County, 20% of food pantry clients are seniors. Often seniors who struggle with having enough food have to make hard choices between buying groceries or paying for medications. The choices are difficult and there is no good outcome. Hunger is definitely a health issue. Seniors who are food insecure are 50% more likely to have diabetes, 60% more likely to have congestive heart failure or a heart attack and 3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
One of the biggest problems that agencies providing food to homebound elderly have is not enough volunteer drivers to get the food to them. Together, this is something we can fix! In April, United Way RSVP is tackling the issue of Senior Hunger in our community by working to raise awareness of senior hunger AND by recruiting 30 volunteers in 30 days to have enough volunteer drivers to get the food to our homebound elderly in need. Please help spread the word of the need for 30 volunteers in 30 days in April! To learn how you can help, call Tony at 715-298-5721.
