USA: Another 100 seniors to get county's Meals on Wheels over four years

. Meals on Wheels gets $100,000 anonymous donation GAINESVILLE, Florida / The Gainesville Sun / June 18, 2009 By Harriet Daniels, Staff writer An anonymous gift of $100,000 means an additional 100 local senior citizens will be added to the county's Meals on Wheels program over the next four years. ElderCare of Alachua County, which coordinates the Meals on Wheels program, received the funding from a local family foundation that asked to remain anonymous. Anthony Clarizio, executive director of ElderCare said it is the largest donation in the agency's history. The money is earmarked for the future operations of Meals on Wheels. The agency has a waiting list of 575 people for the feeding programs. Each weekday, the agency delivers 200 meals to seniors around the county via 16 routes, dependent largely on a team of volunteers. In addition, an average of 300 seniors are served daily through seven congregate meal sites around the county. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, seniors age 65 and older are expected to be nearly one in five of the total population by 2030. [rc] Click for full report Harriet Daniels harriet.daniels@gvillesun.com Copyright © 2009 Gainesville.com