INDIANAPOLIS -- More than 1,000 senior citizens will be left without a hot meal as the Central Indiana Council on Aging will eliminate its daily meal delivery service.
CICOA provides 1,400 hot meals per day to the homes of the elderly and starting Monday, the service will be replaced with a delivery of frozen meals every other week.
For Jackie Burnett, delivering meals is more than just a job.
“I like helping people and serving them,” she said.
For some people, delivery drivers may be the only person seniors interact with all week long.
"When people see me coming, they're just like happy. You know 'she's here!”
The community’s elderly aren’t the only ones impacted.
The CICOA is laying off 35 drivers and two site managers.
The organization’s CEO, Orion Bell said the home delivery meal program has been offered “at a deficit for several years” and it can no longer continue under those conditions.
Bell also made note that federal spending cuts were made in 2013, which reduced the program’s funding by more than $250,000 a year.
RTV6 spoke with Congressman Andre Carson on the matter, who said he opposed such cuts.
“If we're impacting seniors, those folks who have worked all their lives to create a decent living for themselves in their retirement. Then something is problematic,” said Carson.
CICOA is taking phone calls from concerned seniors and their caregivers.
In addition, the organization is working to help those who need assistance in re-heating their meals.
CICOA is in need of volunteers to help check in on the elderly.
To provide assistance, call (317) 254-5465 or visit cicoa.org.
