Please Help the Seniors in Your Community with a Gift of Love This Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving will soon be here. And, we will all be grateful for being alive, having food, family and a home, no matter how humble.

But, have you thought about the older woman down the street, or the older gentleman in the apartment next to you?

Where will be their Thanksgiving dinner…and will they have the funds to make it? Or anyone to share it with and have a laugh or two?

They may share a hot dog and a can of tuna with a cat. Think about it.

Donate if you can. Invite them to your home and be a saint in their eyes and yours.

Just something to think about….when times are getting harder for everyone.

Minn. Food Shelves Targeting Hungry Seniors

They could be your grandparents, or the widow down the street. Chances are good an older person you know is hungry. The number of senior citizens visiting Minnesota food banks this year has risen nearly 150 percent in some locations. And the senior hunger problem might get worse, before it gets better.

The economy obviously has stretched seniors' fixed incomes more than ever, many are living longer than ever before, but perhaps most troubling, many elderly folks are just plain embarrassed they don't have enough money to buy the food they need, and they refuse to get help.

Then there's 84 year old Betty Wenger.

She's a strong woman, a stubborn woman, a woman who bakes bread. "I'm not going to give you the secret recipe though," she said inside her St Paul Park home.

She spoils her dog Brutus, and cherishes all her kids and grandkids. "There were 52 people at the last reunion," she said, smiling proudly.

And unlike many in her generation, Betty isn't too proud to accept the free groceries she's eligible to receive at food banks like Second Harvest Heartland in Maplewood.

"You get canned vegetables, fruit, bread, fresh produce," Betty explained, listing off a half dozen other items. "They give me stuff I don't have and don't have the money to buy. I don't have no reason to feel embarrassed."

The folks who run Second Harvest wish more seniors had Betty's attitude. Although ore than 136,000 seniors visited Second Harvest Heartland's food banks in the first eight months of this year alone, directors say many more stay away because of the stigma they feel comes with the acceptance of free food.

Said Rob Zeaske, food bank's executive director, "We hear story after story about seniors cutting down on their food, skipping meals. Often it's to make sure that they can make it through to the next day or week. We also know that as a result of this it's sending more seniors to the hospital. They're making poor nutritional choices and buying cheaper foods. The efficacy of prescriptions they might be taking isn't as strong on an empty stomach."

Patty Sauro, the senior vice president of Unitedhealthcare, said about four percent of seniors in Minnesota are "at risk." And she said those who do go to food banks often feel so humiliated that they cover their faces and wear large hats to disguise their identities.

To combat the stigma and help raise awareness, all this month Second Harvest Heartland and Unitedhealthcare are teaming together to fight senior hunger by holding 14 food drives throughout the Twin Cities. Their goal is to deliver 40,000 meals to seniors in time for Thanksgiving. For more information go to www.dogoodlivewell.org.

According to Zeaske, "Our message for seniors is 'we've got resources, we want you, you earned this. You spent decades looking after other people. It's our turn to look after you."

Betty wants her peers to know that by going to the food bank for staples like eggs and milk, she can now afford to buy some of her other favorites herself

"Like hot dogs, " she said. "And bacon. It's expensive."

There's no shame, Betty says, if you're hungry. "I'd tell 'em to go if you need it, if you need it get it, it's there to be gotten."