May is Senior Citizens Month
Food Bank of the Rockies Helps Older Adults Who Face Hunger ~
May is Senior Citizens Month, and 8.8% of Denver’s older adults face hunger.
Feeding America recently released The State of Senior Hunger in America in 2021, a study about older adults facing hunger in the United States. The report shows that out of the 78 million adults aged 60 or older in the United States, 5.5 million were food insecure in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. Affordable housing, income level and disabilities are all contributing factors.
In Denver, 8.8% of all Colorado residents aged 60 and up experienced food insecurity in 2021. And Food Bank of the Rockies is seeing increases in need in Denver for this age group and all households as a result of the end of emergency allotments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
To help older adults in our community, Food Bank of the Rockies’ EverGreen Box Program provides nutritious food to income-qualifying individuals at least 60 years of age at no cost each month throughout 31 counties in Colorado. Each box has approximately 35 pounds of food, and the program also offers home delivery for clients in the counties of Jefferson, Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, and Denver in Colorado, and Natrona County in Wyoming. The EverGreen Box program, a program of Everyday Eats, (also known as the Commodity Supplemental Food Program), is administered at the federal level by the USDA.
About Food Bank of the Rockies
Food Bank of the Rockies is the largest hunger-relief organization in the Rocky Mountain region. Since 1978, we’ve put the power of community to work for our neighbors in need. Through partnerships. Through programs. Through people. Through you. Everything we do is fueled by the support of our community and donors, and 96 cents of every dollar goes directly to distribution. With support from our community, we distribute enough food daily for over 178,000 meals. For more information: foodbankrockies.org.
