RICHMOND, VA - The Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen Corps today announced its affiliate partnership with Meals On Wheels Association of America during the 2005 Meals On Wheels Association of America Conference. Citizen Corps and Meals On Wheels will work through the State, county, local and tribal Citizen Corps Councils to engage Meals On Wheels volunteers and vulnerable Americans in making their homes and communities safer and better prepared for emergencies of all kinds.

“By training Meals On Wheels volunteers in emergency preparedness, we can better reach these vulnerable populations with critical preparedness information, guidance, and assurance,” said Matt Mayer, Acting Executive Director of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness.

“We believe that we have a truly unique opportunity to reach seniors at nutrition sites and those who are homebound, as the Meals On Wheels volunteer who delivers meals is too often the only individual such seniors see on a daily basis,” said Enid Borden, CEO of Meals On Wheels Association of America.

Citizen Corps is the Department’s nationwide grass-roots movement to actively involve citizens in making our communities and our nation more resilient from all hazards and threats. Sixty-four percent of the U.S. population is now served by more than 1,500 state or local Citizen Corps Councils, which coordinate the program’s homeland security activities. For more information about Citizen Corps, visit http://www.citizencorps.gov/.

Meals On Wheels is the oldest and largest organization in the United States representing those who provide meal service to people in need. The non-profit organization was formed in 1974 to work toward the social, physical, nutritional, and economic betterment of vulnerable Americans. To learn more about the Meal On Wheels Association of America, please visit http://www.mowaa.org/.

###