QUEENSBURY – Senior citizens in Glens Falls and Queensbury who rely on Warren County’s senior meals program have something to be thankful for this fall – a meals program that has benefited greatly from a new public-private partnership that involves county staff and the Salvation Army of Glens Falls.
The collaboration came after Warren/Hamilton Counties Office for the Aging struggled to find paid staff and volunteers for its senior meal preparation and home delivery program in the wake of the pandemic. The Salvation Army stepped in and stabilized the program, which sends out about 240 meals a day.
“We’re very happy with the way this has been working. We have a great staff here and we have been able to serve more meals than before,” said Salvation Army Major Steve Carroll, commanding office of the Glens Falls location.
On a recent Monday morning, cars lined the curb behind The Cedars Senior Living Community in Queensbury, where the meals for communities in the south end of the county are prepared. Volunteers moved quickly about carrying coolers, grocery bags and food warmers.
During volunteer meal pickup time for the Warren County Senior Meals Program, everyone had a job to do. Coolers with numbers scrawled in black marker awaited the volunteers, all coordinated to go to one of 16 meal delivery routes in Glens Falls and Queensbury.
Food preparation and delivery for home-delivered senior meals in the most populated area of Warren County have been overseen by The Salvation Army of Glens Falls since July 2023. Warren/Hamilton Counties Office for the Aging runs the program in the remaining communities of Warren County.
Supplemented by staff from the Salvation Army, many of the people who prepared and delivered meals for Warren County remained at the Cedars after the new arrangement took effect, folks like Gary Willett, who has helped the program since 2001. “It’s working well,” Willett said of the new partnership.
Warren County provided $100,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding for a new walk-in freezer and food storage equipment at the Cedars that has allowed the Salvation Army to make preparation, Carroll noted.
The program is about more than food, though. The delivery staff also provide a check-in for a seniors who live alone, sometimes the only contact these folks have with the outside world on a daily basis, Major Carroll noted.
“Sometimes when someone doesn’t answer the door, you get worried. Are they okay, or did they just go somewhere and didn’t cancel their meal?” Carroll asked.
The Warren County-Salvation Army collaboration has been viewed as a win-win for seniors, Warren County and the Salvation Army, which is paid per meal to support the program.
Said Warren County Administrator John Taflan: “Our partnership with The Salvation Army has worked out really well. They came forward when we were having trouble recruiting staff for the number of meals that were being cooked at The Cedars. We are thankful for the work they have done to help ensure our seniors get nutritious meals.”
The Salvation Army and Warren/Hamilton Counties OFA can always use more volunteers to help. The Salvation Army can be reached at 518-832-1705. OFA continues to run the senior meals program in Warren County communities north of Lake George, and in Hamilton County. OFA can be reached at 518-761-6347.