Marching for Meals

Information by State  Print version   Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator and his deputies prepare to lead the march. About 200 marchers celebrated the success of the Meals on Wheels program.

On a beautiful spring day in Shreveport, more than two hundred people turned out for a stroll down Texas Street from the Caddo Parish Courthouse to the steps of First United Methodist Church.

There were sheriff's deputies on horseback, fire trucks, numerous American flags, Shreveport Mayor Keith Hightower, entitlement city community development officials, and people representing businesses, non-profits, churches, foundations and community groups.

Signs, banners and t-shirts reading "Pro Bono Project", "Community Foundation", "Shiloh Baptist Church", "Salvation Army", "YWCA" and others dotted the crowd. Almost $25,000 was raised to help meet the needs of low-income at-risk senior citizens on the waiting list for Caddo Council on Aging (CCOA) Meals on Wheels program.

The CCOA provides home-delivered meals five days a week to at-risk, home-bound senior citizens throughout Caddo Parish. In addition, they operate ten senior center sites offering congregate meals and provide referral to a wide range of resources for the elderly through its Senior Coalition.

The program is supported by federal, city, and parish resources, including funds under the Older Americans Act, HUD CDBG funds and city and parish tax dollars; however, a large portion of the funding comes from individual donations from area businesses, foundations and private citizens. Over 800 Caddo Parish seniors receive meals through this highly regarded program, and now more will come off the waiting list and receive a hot meal five days a week and a volunteer contact to make sure they're okay.

Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator led the march and later addressed the crowd, saying what everyone knew: "Meals on Wheels is more than a hot lunch. It's a support system for our seniors. Not only do they receive a nutritious meal, but they also have daily contact with the Meals on Wheels volunteers. You can't put a price on that."

Not a week goes by that a Meals on Wheels volunteer doesn't find a senior in need of assistance when they come by to deliver a meal. Volunteers and seniors often develop a bond from the daily contact. It's a march down the right road to relationship building in a community that values its senior citizens and a vital part of the caring network of outreach the CCOA and members of its Senior Coalition perform every day.