Groceries to Go for Seniors

The Windsor Hunger Action Team started an innovative new program for low-income seniors recently, called "Groceries to Go."  The volunteers in Windsor had noted that not many seniors were taking advantage of the services of the Windsor Food and Fuel Bank.  They speculated that it might be because the food bank only serves a household once per month that the quantity of food was too large for seniors to make use of.  Or it may have been pride, scheduling, or other concerns that kept seniors from coming to the food bank, even though it is in the same building as the town senior center.

So, they worked with the senior center and created a special program for low-income seniors.  To date, 87 seniors have been identified as eligible and signed up.  When they sign up, they are given a canvas grocery bag and then every other Friday, at the senior center, they bring the bag and can pick up some groceries.  About half of those who are signed up come each week.  Two volunteers help with the distribution of the food and they have found that the seniors are very health conscious - checking for things like sodium content - and that they only take what they need.

Through the generosity of other organizations and volunteers in town, the Groceries to Go program has also been able to provide educational programs, like a cookbook, and even smoke detectors for those who live in a single family home.

Congratulations to the Windsor Hunger Action Team for thinking of and implementing this simple, but very effective way to help ensure that our seniors have enough healthy food to eat!

For more information about Hunger Action Teams, go here.