Meals program asks county to hold funding level after steep food‑cost increase

Tammy, representing the county’s home‑delivered meals program, told supervisors the service delivered or served over 30,000 meals last fiscal year and more than 16,000 since July. She said the program’s actual cost per meal is about $8.21 while the suggested donation is $4, creating a shortfall between costs and receipts.

Tammy described program operations — volunteers, school‑age participants who help deliver, and a small donated fund used to subsidize emergency trips — and said recent increases in food and staffing costs prompted last year’s budget increase. She requested the board maintain prior county support levels (the program’s historical county allotment was reported as $95,000 for nutrition and $3,000 for chore services) to sustain service capacity for isolated and elderly residents.

Supervisors praised volunteers and noted the social importance of congregate and home‑delivered meals; they asked staff to preserve the request in the upcoming budget reconciliation and to consider targeted outreach for donations and volunteer recruitment to cover service gaps. No immediate fiscal action was taken at the meeting.