GLSS meals program gets $100,000 in stimulus aid

LYNN – Greater Lynn Senior Services (GLSS), which operates a home meal delivery program in Lynn, Lynnfield, Nahant, Saugus and Swampscott as well as walk-in congregate sites at senior centers in those communities, will receive a $100,000 in federal stimulus funds to ensure the service continues.
“We knew this was coming, that Massachusetts was going to get $2.1 million in stimulus funds for this purpose, but we didn’t know exactly how much we would get in Lynn,” GLSS Executive Director Ron Airey said Wednesday. “There are 27 meals programs throughout the state that will divide that money up, but not equally. It depends on the number of meals you serve.”
According to Airey, GLSS served 340,000 meals in 2008. Of those, six in 10 were home delivered, and the remainder served at various congregate sites, including the senior centers and senior-citizen residences such as Laurel Towers in Saugus and the McGee House in Lynn.
“We’ll receive $100,000 or just over that,” Airey said. “The money will be used for the meals program, which is definitely needed. We’ve seen the demand go up for the past couple of seasons, especially as more people age. There are many people out there who are financially starting to rely on this. The costs just keep going up, and the funding to date has not kept up.”
Airley said all meals programs in Massachusetts have been running at a deficit.
“We’ve all been looking at what to do as other state funding is being cut back. It’s a quandary,” he said. “We don’t want to reduce the quality of the meals, and we don’t want to go to a wait list. So this funding is good news. It will go a long way toward alleviating that, and also provide us with a way to update equipment that has not been kept up to date.”
GLSS provides meals free at the congregate sites and through its home delivery program but recipients are asked for a small donation.
“The most important thing is that we’re able to continue this program,” he said.
The funding was announced Wednesday by Vice President Joe Biden who stressed the need to provide healthy home-delivered meals and nutrition services to senior centers and other organizations where those age 60 and over dine. The funds are part of $100 million in the economic recovery package for nutrition programs serving the elderly across the country.