In May, 2008,
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS) undertook the development of a
Community Needs Assessment with an ultimate goal ensuring SFBFS program
offerings continued to be relevant and supportive of the greater Sacramento
community.
One of the findings
of the assessment was the prediction (by the California
Department of Aging) that by the year 2020, 330,000 seniors will live in the
Sacramento region, many of whom will be socially isolated and subject to poor
nutrition and depression.
Building on the community needs assessment, SFBFS’ Board of Directors approved a strategic plan
in April 2009, which among other things, created our Senior program. This
concept is to match volunteer families and individuals with seniors who are
referred to SFBFS by Eskaton, a premier senior service non-profit in Northern
California. These volunteers socially engage with their matched seniors a minimum of twice a
month and provide them with a generous supply of healthy groceries from SFBFS
on one of those visits each month.
From these humble
beginnings, the Senior program now has 45 active senior/volunteer matches and
looks forward to helping many more seniors in the future!
Submitted by Marie-Louise Nelson, Senior Program Manager at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.
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