Bay Alarm Medical Rejoins Feeding America To Fight Hunger
November 24, 2014
The holiday season is a time to reflect on the things that matter most to us. This includes precious time spent with our loved ones enjoying each other’s company and sharing gratitude for all the good things we have in our lives. For many of us, having a warm meal on the table is something that we take for granted each day.
The Thanksgiving meal, in particular, is an iconic tradition. A perfectly roasted turkey, some savory green beans, and melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes are all staples of this meal. But for many Americans, these items are luxuries rather than a given. Feeding America reports that last year alone more than “49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.”
Senior Food Insecurity
The term food insecure refers to reduced quality of diet with little food intake. Food insecurity in seniors is especially devastating. Studies have shown that seniors who are food insecure do not get enough nutrients to sustain a healthy lifestyle and are more at risk for chronic health conditions.
Many aging adults are on a fixed income so they face tough decisions daily on whether to pay for food or other critical necessities like rent or healthcare. Moreover, seniors have a harder time getting adequate nutrition than other age groups because sometimes their physical ability to prepare food has diminished. Many that are still able to afford food may have lost the ability to cook.
We have joined forces with Feeding America again this year to support them in the fight against Senior Hunger.
Feeding America
Feeding America is a huge nationwide network of food banks, and through this network they operate over 58,000 food programs. Through their Charitable Food Assistance program, Feeding America serves over seven million older adults each year. Out of these households, 76% are food insecure.
Feeding America offers many different types of food programs to serve seniors like home-delivered meal programs (Meals on Wheels), senior brown bag grocery programs, and senior nutrition cites that offer free lunches.
Who Is Affected
Research conducted by Feeding America shows that among their client households with at least one senior, 47% have reported that a household member has diabetes, 77% have high blood pressure, and 30% report having served in the U.S. military.
As this research demonstrates, many seniors have serious health conditions or prior trauma or injuries that may make it difficult for them to get adequate nutrition.
What We’re Doing
We’ll be donating a portion of the profit from each and every medical alert system sale we get for the months of November and December 2014 to Feeding America. We’ll also be sharing more blog posts, news, and updates on fighting hunger throughout the holiday season.
How You Can Get Involved
Go to Feeding America’s Take Action page to see ways that you can help in their mission to fight hunger. There’s more than one way to get involved. You can do things like host a virtual food drive, do a canned food drive, or spread some cause awareness through social media.
You can even help advocate for the cause by urging your local congressman to get involved in helping support food banks and help them become more educated on hunger issues in America.
