Commission proclaims March Senior Nutrition Month; Meals on Wheels leaders report 26‑person wait list

The Leavenworth County Board of Commissioners proclaimed March 2025 as a month celebrating senior nutrition programs, including the county’s Meals on Wheels program, and invited county officials and volunteers to participate in outreach and deliveries.

Representatives of the county’s Council on Aging told commissioners that the local Meals on Wheels program is on pace to deliver about 111,000 meals this year and currently has 26 people on a wait list. Volunteers said routes have grown and that the southern part of the county—especially around Tonganoxie and Basehor—has particular demand.

“We probably need another full time route that would open up the opportunity to put some of these people on [the program],” a Council on Aging representative said, describing rising demand and routes that are already large.

Program staff said they previously cleared a wait list of about 14 people after receiving a roughly $25,000 grant and that they have applied for similar local grants again this year. They asked commissioners to support volunteer recruitment and to continue monitoring federal funding, including reauthorization and full funding of the Older Americans Act nutrition programs.

Commissioners thanked volunteers and noted the social as well as nutritional value of the deliveries. The proclamation text recounted that the Older Americans Act was amended in 1972 to include a national nutrition program for people 60 and older and recognized the county Meals on Wheels program and its volunteers.