Proposed federal budget cuts will have an impact on senior citizens all across the nation. Meals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa has been self-sustaining, since it was founded. However, Chief Operating Officer Calvin Moore says the need for programs like Meals on Wheels will grow rapidly.
As baby-boomer grow older there will be more and more need for services. Moore says the Tulsa Metro operation hopes to provide a million meals a year by 2020.
He disputes government officials who say such programs have little or no value. Moore says Meals on Wheels provides more than nutrition to shut-ins. Moore says volunteers do welfare checks on shut-ins and that allows frail seniors a chance to stay in their home longer. He says often they do simple chores like change a light bulb to keep the seniors off a ladder. In the long run, Moore saves that actually saves the government money.