Bountiful Meals for Seniors
Working Together to Feed Seniors in Need
Filling the gap in hunger relief through community partnerships!
No one should worry about where their next meal is coming from or struggle to feed themselves. But unfortunately, many seniors experience food insecurity and need assistance because of barriers like transportation, mobility, and the struggle of asking for help. Seniors are particularly at-risk of becoming food insecure because their fixed incomes can make it difficult to afford the rising costs of living essentials. While the senior centers provide lunch during the week, many seniors struggle on weekends or at dinner. To address this critical community need and support seniors during the off hours, the Cornell Cooperative Extension launched a six-month pilot program, Bountiful Meals, that offers free meals to seniors. And you may already have guessed it, but Second Chance Foods is honored to partner with this program by cooking the meals and making it easy for seniors to eat healthily!
Local Produce with Local Impact
Using produce from local farms grown for Bountiful Meals (along with our regularly donated groceries), our volunteers will cook over 2,000 meals exclusively for seniors. These meals will be stocked in special freezers at the county senior centers (currently Cold Spring and Putnam Valley and moving to Mahopac and Carmel in the new year). Seniors are invited to take these meals as needed and are already loving them! Many have already noted how much they loved the roasted tomato soup and left praising feedback like “pesto=fabulous.”
Each freezer is stocked with about 100 meals (every other week) and, so far, is empty within a few days! As with all of our programs, the dinners made for Bountiful Meals are cooked with seniors in mind. We ensure our meals are nutritionally complete, easy to eat, and dishes we know they’ll love, like Spinach Mushroom Quiche, Roasted Chicken with Mustard Glazed Cabbage, Chicken Soup, Pumpkin Lasagna, and so much more!
