Rockford seniors receive more than just meals from Meals on Wheels program

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — March marks 53 years since federal law allowed the funding for crucial senior programs, including Meals on Wheels, which is celebrating an anniversary.

In Rockford, Illinois Reps. Maurice West (D), Dave Vella (D), and Joe Sosnowski (R) rode along with Lifescape Community Services’ meal deliveries.

Lifescape administrators said the Meals of Wheels program offers more than just a daily meal, but an opportunity to check in on the seniors they serve.

Lifescape’s lead kitchen associate, Quanza Moore, related an experience she had with one recipient, saying, “I let her know that I was the person who prepared her food and everything. And she thanked me so much and she said, ‘Sometimes I don’t see anybody. And this sometimes is the only thing that I have to eat in a day.’ So, that right there sold me and brought me in. I said, I’m down. And this was early on. So it’s probably like 2013. So I’ve been here since then. Because of that, if I can save one person or if I can make one person happy, I’m happy.”

Lifescape serves adults aged 60 and up, and younger adults with disabilities.