Grant helps 'Meals on Wheels' keep rolling

Workers, from left to right, Quincy Pitre, Johnetha Brown and Mary Lazenby prepare meals in the kitchen as the Orange County Action Association prepares to deliver approximately 300 meals each day to disabled and senior citizens in Orange County on Tuesday. The agency received a grant recently which will help OCAA with its budget in feeding those in need of a hot meal each day. Photo by Tommy Mann Jr.

A local organization which provides hot meals to those in need across the county received a grant recently which will help it continue to accomplish its mission.

The Orange County Action Association received a grant for $2,500 recently from the Foundation of Southeast Texas. The grant will be very beneficial to the organization, which operates on a very tight budget as it helps feed hundreds of people each day.

Linda Hughes, director of the Orange County Action Association, which is also known as Meals on Wheels, attended a meeting to learn more about the grant and was glad she did after learning she was approved following the application and review process.

"Our grocery bill is very, very high," Hughes explained. "This grant will let us keep up the standard of quality we like to follow for our purchases. We try to stay away from the lower-priced items, but higher quality items cost more."

According to Hughes, the Orange County Action Association serves approximately 385 meals per day, five-days each week, with nearly 300 meals being delivered each day across the county.

"We are budgeted to serve meals 260 days each year, so any extra funds we receive through grants are very useful," she added.

The remainder of meals served each day, which are not delivered, are to those who visit locations such as the one in Orange, as well as Optimist Village in Pinehurst, and locations in Bridge City and Little Cypress.

"Anyone age 60 or older can come in to one of our locations and eat," Hughes continued. "But delivery is for our senior citizens ages 65 and older or those who are disabled. This is an important service for a lot of people."

The Orange County Action Assocation is located at 123 S. Fifth St. in downtown Orange, inside the City of Orange Senior Center.