Mar 12, 2020 3 min read

For more than 50 years, a Greene County nonprofit agency has been delivering hot, nutritious meals to area home-bound senior residents who are unable to prepare their own meals.

Blueprints – formerly known as Community Action Southwest – is proudly continuing that longstanding initiative, offering the Home Delivered Meals Program to Greene County’s elderly population.

Through the program, eligible home-bound seniors have hot meals delivered right to their door by trained volunteers. The meals consist of an entree, sides, bread, dessert and a beverage, which are prepared daily by a paid staff. Frozen meals may be picked up for people who live outside the delivery zones.

There is no charge for meals, but donations are accepted.

Blueprints is a subcontractor for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging, and since 1968, has been delivering aging-related programming to the older adults of Greene County.

Stacy Stroman, Blueprints director, said the Home Delivered Meals Program is just one of the organization’s initiatives geared toward helping seniors.

“Blueprints takes great pride in the quality of our aging programming in Greene County – healthier lives through social interaction, exercise and good nutrition,” she said.

In addition to providing meals, the trained volunteers who deliver the meals are also able to check on the seniors, to make sure they are safe.

Anyone interested in receiving delivered meals for themselves or having meals delivered to a loved one may apply for the program. Eligible seniors must meet certain criteria, be a resident of Greene County and be 60 years of age or older to apply.

Blueprints continues to actively recruit adults ages 55 and older to volunteer for the agency’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), which pairs volunteer drivers with well-known people in the community to deliver meals.

“This is a great way to meet new people and make a difference in your community,” Stroman said. “We are very fortunate to have our dedicated volunteers. Without them, there would be no home delivered meals program.”

Volunteers are an integral part of Blueprints’ services. Last year, 315 volunteers provided 22,322 service hours preparing and delivering meals and working within the aging program structure.

In 2019, 54,279 meals were distributed to 376 home-bound older adults residing in Greene County.

Blueprints will hold a Community Champions event with Greene County Commissioners on Friday, March 13 at 9:30 a.m. at the Waynesburg Senior Community Center in honor of the 2020 March for Meals Community Champions Week.

Across the country this week, Meals on Wheels/Home Delivered Meals programs have enlisted elected officials, local celebrities and other prominent figures to deliver meals, speak out for seniors and raise awareness for the power of Home Delivered Meals.

The annual March for Meals commemorates the day in March 1972 when U.S. President Richard Nixon signed into law a measure that amended the Older Americans Act of 1965 and established a national nutritional program for seniors 60 years and older.

For more information on the Blueprints Home Delivery Meals Program, or to find out how to volunteer or apply for the program, or to learn more about the Community Champions event, visit www.myblueprints.org or call 724-852-2893, ext. 520.