
Last month the director of the Orange County Meals on Wheels spoke to the Commissioners Court expressing the programs need for more money. Linda Hughes informed the Court her clients would continue to get their meals, but because of funding cuts and a lack of grant funds it may have to be outsourced to someone else.
Commissioner David Dubose raised the question of additional funding from the county this week when the Court approved several line item transfers to the county’s contingency fund. Orange County spends roughly $30,000 annually providing vans and drivers for the Meals on Wheels program which delivers meals to shut-ins and senior citizens that might not get them otherwise.
County Judge Brint Carlton has investigated what other counties are doing with their programs like Meals on Wheels. Carlton thinks a Texans Feeding Texans grant through the Texas Department of Agriculture could be the answer for Orange County and the local Meals on Wheels. The judge mentioned that Jefferson and Hardin Counties pool their $100,000 dollars in grants to Texans Feeding Texans and get a 2 to 1 ratio match.
The local program has a budget short fall of $30,000 and a reserve of $76,000. The short fall is not in food, but in vans and drivers. The cost of fuel for and repairs to the vans that deliver the meals and paying drivers because of a lack of volunteers to do it for free are the largest expenses for the program according to Hughes when she spoke in July.
Judge Carlton suggests, “If we just give them the $30,000 as a grant, if they’re able to then apply that towards Texans Feeding Texans, if they can get a 2 to 1 match that would get them an additional $60,000 or so and that way they can use those funds however they want.” The Commissioners Court took no action on the judge’s suggestion since it was not on the agenda for the meeting, but it may be considered later.
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