SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Senior Citizens, Incorporated just received a $10,000 grant to help continue to feed the elderly in our community.
The Older Americans Act, passed in 1965, is a crucial funding act for programs like Meals on Wheels.

President Patti Lyons tells that it hasn’t been reinstated as of yet under the current administration, which is a first in the 60 years it’s been active. She says without that funding it would be almost impossible to continue their day-to-day operations.
“I do answer phone calls every day from someone who hears Medicare is on the chopping block.,” Lyons said. “So, security is on the chopping block. They still haven’t reauthorized the older Americans act, which funds Meals on Wheels and adult day care, all those core services. So, we’re just in a wait-and-see pattern.”.
Lyons says funding for our elderly community is under attack.
“There’s a lot of fear with our clients because they are banking on that. It’s not like they can now go out and get a job, you know, I mean, here they are. They’re in their eighties; they’re in their seventies. You know, they have paid in they deserve this”, Lyons said.
She adds that the $10,000 grant they received from Food Lion will help offset the cost they had to spend to feed people during hurricane Helene and our recent snowstorm. Something that the program needs to be able to continue providing.
“There are a lot of folks who were without electricity for five days, and were reaching out, older adults saying, ‘I have no food, I have no way to cook. Can you help me?’,” Lyons said. “So, we made the decision to do that even though we knew we didn’t have the dollars for it, but thanks to Food Lion, they came through and we were able to not lose money.”
With 600 people on the waitlist, Lyons says the need is only going to keep growing.
“If we lost those funds, it would take a lot of support, and I worry about that,” Lyons said. “We’re just going to try to do what we do really well, and the last thing we would stop would be meals, because, you know, it’s just common sense. You take care of people, give them good nutrition. They’re not going to end up in the hospital. They’re not going to need those more expensive services. So, my hope is that those who are making those decisions keep that in mind.”
Lyons recommends writing to our local lawmakers as well as volunteering your time if you’re not able to donate monetarily.