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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) announced today that the Nutrition Program for the Elderly in New Jersey will receive $2.7 million to help senior citizens maintain their health and independence. The funding is provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in February.
The Older Americans Act (OAA) Nutrition Program for the Elderly provides funds for nutritious meals, both home delivered and available in group settings. All funds under the OAA are targeted to serve adults 60 years of age and older, who are low-income, with particular attention to poverty and minority individuals. For many participants, the meal provided through this program is their main meal of the day.
Currently, the program delivers six million meals to 63,000 seniors each year in New Jersey. With the additional funds through the Recovery Act, it is estimated that New Jersey will be able to deliver an additional 100,000 meals to seniors.
"During these challenging economic times, we must ensure that our most vulnerable citizens are being taken care of," Pallone said. "These funds will help communities that have been hit hard by rising food costs by restoring nutrition services that have been cut and positions that have been eliminated or reduced. Providing meals for senior citizens is an important program and for some home delivered meal recipients, may be the only human contact they have in a day."
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes key investments in health care that will prevent the loss of health coverage, promote prevention programs and lower health care spending for our nation.
The funds for the Nutrition Program for the Elderly will be allocated through grant awards to states under the federal Older Americans Act (OAA). New Jersey Area Agencies on Aging (AAA's) in each of the 21 counties will receive funding through a formula that is still under consideration by the federal government.
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