Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
ALTON – Country artists Rodney Atkins and Jana Kramer will be performing this Saturday, July 16 at the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater for Senior Services Plus (SSP)’s 7th Annual Feed the Need benefit concert for Meals on Wheels.
Meals on Wheels is a program that allows low income and at-risk senior citizens to receive 33 percent of their daily nutrition and remain living in their own homes. SSP caters to 22 townships throughout Madison and St. Clair Counties for over the past nine years. Meals on Wheels has provided citizens with 1 million meals, feeding over 6,000 homebound seniors. Before the state budget crisis, SSP staff would deliver a warm meal daily, Monday through Friday, to the individuals in need. Now, only five frozen meals are being delivered once a week. In the past year, only 450 meals have been delivered daily.
“It is such a crucial time in the lives of the Meals on Wheels recipients where they have to depend on others for their daily meals along with other daily tasks” Associate Executive Director, Theresa Collins said. “The annual Feed the Need concert is a way for the community to give back to the seniors who have given so much to the community already while enjoying a great country concert.”
Collins can tell many stories where individuals would beg her for more food on deliveries because that one delivery was their only source of food for the week. The Meals on Wheels program is not only beneficial for nutritional reasons but also for socialization and safety concerns. Often, the delivery is the recipient’s only interaction with another person and because of this it is not rare for a Meals on Wheels driver to find an injured citizen who has not received the help they need.
“It’s my survival food,” is what William Bono of Alton says when describing the meals delivered to him by Meals on Wheels.
The cost of a general admission ticket of $40 is equivalent to ten days of meal donations. However, the week leading up to the concert the public can use the code “FTN16” to receive half off on all tickets. Individuals are able to purchase tickets online at www.metrotix.com and enter the promo code in the top right corner of the page or in person at Senior Services Plus when they mention the code. Meet and Greet tickets are also available for each artist for $50 exclusively at Senior Services Plus or by calling 618-465-3298.
Senior Services Plus is a non-profit United Way agency established to help enrich the lives of older adults through programs and services that encourage independent living and provide opportunities and resources to individuals as they age. SSP offers a wide variety of affordable services to all ages from fitness and travel to Meals on Wheels and home care. To find out more about the organization or this event, please visit www.seniorservicesplus.org or call 618-465-3298.
More like this:
Related Video:
