Our Mission

The mission of the Feed the Need Campaign is to end hunger for the 60+ population in Alabama’s Blount, Chilton, St. Clair, Shelby, and Walker Counties through community support and engagement.

Our History

The Middle Alabama Area Agency on Aging (M4A) administers the Elderly Nutrition Program under the Older Americans Act in our five-county region. The federal funding received supports nutrition services to older adults by providing meals in a congregate group setting or delivered directly to the resident of a senior who is homebound.

M4A is one of 13 local area agencies on aging in Alabama and administers the Feed the Need campaign. We are the first place consumers of all ages can get help, information, and resources. We specialize in resources, services, and information for older individuals, people of any age who are disabled, and their caregivers. To learn more about M4A, click here.

M4A currently serves thousands of meals each day to our clients but unfortunately, we have hundreds of seniors who have been placed on a waiting list and are still unable to receive home-delivered meals. This number will only increase as 10,000 baby boomers turn the age of 65 each day.

This is why we have created our new Feed the Need: End 60+ hunger Campaign to engage local communities to get involved and help us raise the funds needed to remove homebound seniors from our waiting list and provide them with nutritious meals.

Many of these seniors are at or below the 100% federal poverty level, disabled, and have very little community support. Seniors, without proper nutrition, are highly susceptible to malnutrition, social isolation, depression, and a diminished ability to remain independent.

Our Campaign

M4A created our FEED THE NEED: END 60+ HUNGER Campaign to help the 60+ homebound seniors receive nutritious meals delivered to their homes. They must make tough decisions each month to purchase food, pay their utilities, or get their medicine. We are committed to helping our 60+ residents “age in place” with dignity and wellness in their community.

Our campaign is all about engaging the community to get involved and help us raise the funds needed to end 60+ hunger in the central Alabama region.

The money raised through our Feed the Need campaign will be used to provide delivered meals to those who are homebound and in the greatest need of food.

Take the Feed the Need: End 60+ Hunger challenge today!
• A donation of $25 can provide meals for a week.
• A donation of $100 can provide meals for a month.
• A donation of $600 can provide meals for six months.
• A donation of $1,200 can provide meals for an entire year.
• A donation of any amount is greatly appreciated.

SENIORS SHOULD NEVER HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN BUYING FOOD, MEDICINE, OR PAYING THEIR UTILITY BILLS.

Facts about Senior Hunger

In 2013, more than 1 million seniors living alone experienced food insecurity. Seniors who do not have an adequate amount of food are at a high risk for chronic health conditions, depression, isolation and risk of a heart attack.

Almost one in every 12 seniors about the age of 60 in the U.S. is food insecure, and those living with a disability are at the greatest risk of food insecurity.

Every year for the last decade, younger seniors (aged 60-69) experience higher rates of food insecurity. In 2011, nearly 65% of food insecure seniors were below the age of 69, and given the fact that 10,000 people are turning 65 each day until 2030, this will only become a larger challenge unless we work together to end hunger for this generation.

A Feeding America study shows that 67% of households they assist had to choose between food and transportation, 66% had to choose between food and medical care, and 69% had to choose between food and utilities.

Veterans and service members battle hunger. In one in five households that receive assistance from Feeding America, someone in that household has served in the U.S. military.

HUNGER AMONG OUR VETERANS

The non-profit organization, Feed Our Vets reports that hunger among the more than 12 million U.S. Veterans over 60 is reaching critical levels. Estimates are that over 300,000 elderly Veterans are food insecure. Relatives who do not live with older Veterans and their families do not realize what little food they have access to obtain.