Senior Resource Connection is proud to announce it has received a $5,000 Meals on Wheels Loves Pets grant through Meals on Wheels America, for its pet support program, Senior’s Best Friend. This grant will assist efforts to keep Miami Valley Seniors and their pets together amid the pandemic and beyond. Funding will be used to provide food and supplies for the pets of Meals on Wheels clients, which can often be a financial and physical challenge for older adults to manage on their own. The love and companionship our clients share with their furry friends is truly amazing, but we want them both to get enough to eat. This program alleviates the guilt-driven act of sharing daily meals with pets because they simply cannot afford to buy pet food. We currently provide dry dog and cat food for 223 clients with 253 pets.

Funding for this grant was made possible through a partnership with PetSmart Charities, part of Meals on Wheels America’s strategic effort to combat social isolation and loneliness among seniors across the country. This year, PetSmart Charities’ support allowed Meals on Wheels America to grant $354,500 to 98 Meals on Wheels programs through the Meals on Wheels Loves Pets initiative, which ensures that homebound seniors and their animal companions can live happy, healthy lives together.

“The companionship a pet offers enhances the physical and mental health and well-being of homebound seniors, which is particularly valuable as so many older adults are feeling even more lonely and isolated amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Meals on Wheels America President and CEO Ellie Hollander. “We’re grateful for PetSmart Charities’ ongoing support, which has allowed us to invest Meals on Wheels Loves Pets grants in more local Meals on Wheels programs than ever before. This support will enable Senior Resource Connection to provide pet supplies and care to local seniors, making it more feasible for seniors to remain safe and healthy at home with their beloved companions during this public health emergency and beyond.”

The Senior's Best Friend program is just one of the special services provided by Senior Resource Connection to home-bound seniors and disabled adults in our local communities. This supplemental pet food program is for our clients who are currently receiving Meals-on-Wheels services. Senior’s Best Friend prevents those with limited resources from having to choose between food for themselves or food for their cherished pets. It enables individuals to keep their furry friends healthy and fed while providing a special quality to their lives and saving their pets from an uncertain fate. If you, or someone you know, needs help caring for a pet; or you would like to receive more information about Senior’s Best Friend in your community, contact Senior Resource Connection at 937-228-3663 (CAT-FOOD) or contact us here. 

Meals on Wheels America is the leadership organization supporting the more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country that are dedicated to addressing senior isolation and hunger. This network serves virtually every community in America and, along with more than two million staff and volunteers, delivers the nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks that enable America’s seniors to live nourished lives with independence and dignity. By providing funding, leadership, education, research and advocacy support, Meals on Wheels America empowers its local member programs to strengthen their communities, one senior at a time. For more information, or to find a Meals on Wheels provider near you, visit www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org.

PetSmart Charities® is committed to finding lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. Through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities helps to find forever homes and families for more than 600,000 shelter pets each year. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the PIN pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses more than 90 cents of every dollar donated to fulfill its role as the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, granting almost $430 million since its inception in 1994. Independent from PetSmart Inc., PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization that has received the Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, a third-party organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 17 years in a row – placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
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