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Meals On Wheels Moves To Food For Lane County

Rachael McDonald

Monday, some Eugene seniors got a surprise visit from Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. Wyden joined volunteers delivering Meals on Wheels for Food For Lane County.

This was the first day the Meals on Wheels were packaged at Food For Lane County’s West Eugene facility. Program Director Karen Edmonds says they started delivery services in July, taking over for The Red Cross.
Edmonds: “Well, we saw the mission of Meals on Wheels, to provide meals to homebound seniors, age 60 or plus, as a complete match with Food For Lane County’s mission to alleviate hunger.”
Edmonds says the program is more than a meal. Senator Ron Wyden agrees.
Wyden: “For a lot of seniors, the person that delivers the meal will be the only person that they will see that day.”
Wyden stopped in to greet volunteers before heading out to help deliver lunches.
Wyden: “A lot of the seniors are walking on an economic tightrope. They’re balancing their food bill against the rent bill.”
Wyden says in the spending bill that passed Congress Friday, he was able to secure a permanent tax deduction for food donations to charitable organizations.
 

Correction: The Meals on Wheels lunches are prepared  in a Central Kitchen provided by Senior & Disability Services and delivered to all Lane County dispatch locations to be packaged. The original version of  this story incorrectly stated that the meals were prepared at the Food For Lane County kitchen.

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.