OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Faced with choosing between feeding themselves or their pets, social workers said many seniors decide to go hungry.
Some local Meals on Wheels groups have tried to solve the problem by expanding services to help pets too, but said their need is greater than ever and they can’t keep up on their own anymore.
Volunteers want to make sure seniors, including like Osceola County resident Helen Crawford, don’t have choose whether to feed themselves or their pets.
For 95-year-old Crawford, expensive medical equipment, pills and the cost of daily living are all slowly draining her bank account.
And like many pet lovers, if Crawford had to choose between taking care of Snowy, her cat, or herself, she’d choose Snowy.
That's why volunteers in Osceola County hope to raise donations and awareness at the Kissimmee Valley Feed and Ranch Supply's grand opening Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“What was happening was the seniors were feeding their food that Meals on Wheels delivered to their pets and not eating,” said Meals on Wheel volunteer Cheryl Gannon. “So that's where we stepped in to say, ‘We can't let that happen.’”
Gannon and several other volunteers drop off food, litter, medicine and take cats, including Snowy, to the vet.
But doing that for all clients has become pricey.
“Just in the last two weeks, his vet bills were almost $500 and that’s just one of the 110 (pets),” said Gannon.
The number of cats and dogs Osceola County’s Meals on Wheels program cares for--110--is nearly four times higher than it was three years ago.
“For 24 hours a day, I'm alone unless somebody stops by,” said Crawford.
Anyone who can’t make it to the event on Saturday event, but wants to help the Osceola County Meals on Wheels care for more pets, can send donations to the Osceola Council on Aging. Be sure to specify that the funds go to the Meals on Wheels pet program.
Seniors First, which serves seniors throughout greater Orlando, is also fundraising for a similar program, its “Furever Friends” project. Meals on Wheels America is now matching 100 percent of the donations it receives, up to $2,500.
Without their continued help, volunteers said, seniors aren't healthy or happy.
Cox Media Group
