Donald Trump is killing Meals on Wheels and it's a serious problem

2025-04-28 05:41:09admin

Put impaired veterans, elderly shut-ins and those who cannot leave their homes on the long list of Americans that the president doesn't seem to want to support.

President Trump is -- you guessed it -- coming under fire again for a newly proposed budget that would completely eliminate federal funding for the Meals on Wheels program. That's a problem.

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Meals on Wheels provides food to the elderly, poor, disabled, veterans and others who often cannot leave their homes or prepare their own meals. Beyond providing nutritious food for the seniors, the service also supplies those that may lack social interactions with a friendly visit from a volunteer and a safety check to ensure they are okay.

Under Trump's proposed budget, the entirety of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's $3 billion Community Development Block Grant program would be eliminated. These grants fund services for low-income Americans -- including grants for Meals on Wheels.

Because Meals on Wheels programs are typically funded by several sources, it's thankfully improbable that that Trump's cuts would end the services altogether, but the number of people the program is able to serve would be greatly reduced.

The obviously problematic proposal has many people up in arms, and they're sounding off on Twitter.

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UPDATE: March 16, 2017, 4:21 p.m. EDT Since posting, Meals on Wheels has released a statement about Trump's budget blueprint.

“The problem with a skinny budget is it is lean on details. So, while we don’t know the exact impact yet, cuts of any kind to these highly successful and leveraged programs would be a devastating blow to our ability to provide much-needed care for millions of vulnerable seniors in America, which in turn saves billions of dollars in reduced healthcare expenses” said Ellie Hollander, President and CEO Meals on Wheels America in the statement.

"The need is growing rapidly, and federal funding has not kept pace," the statement continues, "The network is already serving 23 million fewer meals now than in 2005, and waiting lists are mounting in every state. At a time when increased funding is needed, we fear that the millions of seniors who rely on us every day for a nutritious meal, safety check and visit from a volunteer will be left behind."

"This successful public-private partnership, for which every federal dollar is matched with about three dollars from other sources, enables at-risk seniors to stay out of more expensive healthcare settings and remain more healthy, safe and independent in their own homes, where they want to be"

"After all," the statement says, "We can provide a senior with Meals on Wheels for an entire year for roughly the same cost of an average one-day stay in the hospital or ten days in a nursing home."

You can click here to donate to Meals on Wheels, or here to find your nearest program to volunteer your lunch break.

To oppose Trump's budget cuts, be sure to contact your state’s representatives in the Senate and the House to speak out and vote against the proposal.

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