Local church helps raise funds for Middle Georgia’s Meals on Wheels

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/ WMGT) –  Bibb County Commissioners will meet the next month to discuss adjusting funds in the budget to ensure some agencies can stay open. One of those programs is Meals on Wheels.

Meals on Wheels of Middle Georgia Executive Director Tanya Graham-Simms. She says commissioners say the program will be put back into the budget, but haven’t received anything in writing, yet.

“A lot of days, I don’t feel like making a meal for myself with vegetables and everything. So I look forward to this and other than just looking forward to a meal and the smiling face that brings it to me. It also saves me money because on a fixed income, I need all the help that I can get,” a Meals on Wheels client Sherry Hatcher said.

Hatcher has multiple conditions that prevent her from standing for long periods of time, making it difficult to cook herself meals.

So without the program:

“My nutrition level will go down,” Hatcher said.

To feed one client in a 260 year period, for the Meals on Wheels program costs over $1,700.

“People in the community that know about Meals on Wheels, know what an impact we make in the community,” Graham-Simms said.

Before the fiscal year 2019 budget cuts, Graham-Simms says the program would usually receive over $47,000 from the county. she says commissioners say the program will receive $35,000, but won’t know until commissioners meet in August.

“Our clients depend on us. They have nowhere else to get these meals. We were kind of their last resort anyway,” Graham-Simms said.

To make up that $12,300 deficit, Graham-Simms has fundraised and submitted for grants. But a local church has stepped in to help bridge the gap.

“We want to raise this $35,000, or as much as we can by August the first,” Kingdom Life Pastor Dominique Johnson said.

If commissioners do cut funding by $12,000, that will force the program to cut 7,000 meals.

“At the end of the day, we need to make sure we are taking care of our youth and our elderly, or our more seasoned people in the community,” he said.

That can leave some searching for the next meal or dollars for it.

“It means so much, having the food, having somebody to check on me and helps with our budgets,” Hatcher Said.

So far, Pastor Johnson has raised around $4,000 for the program.

Those on the waiting list may need to wait until commissioners come up with a solution.

To donate, you can make checks out to the Meals on Wheels and send them directly to the officer, 1212 Gray Highway, Macon, Ga 31208.

Or, write the check out to Meals on Wheels but write the envelope to Kingdom Life and send it to P.O. Box 4281 Macon, GA 31208.

You can also go to their website and donate on their via PayPal.