Senior Activity Center Receives Grant for their Nutrition Program from ON Semiconductor Foundation
Originally published on Idaho State Journal
The Senior Activity Center in Pocatello, Idaho is an organization committed to providing nutritional meals to seniors older than the age of 60. They announced that they have been awarded a $10,000 grant from the ON Semiconductor Foundation. The grant will be used to purchase food for the center’s nutrition program.
The Senior Activity Center’s mission is to provide a daily nutritional meal and support socialization, physical and cognitive activities that will serve the community’s senior population.
“The center’s nutrition program is a vital program for seniors in our community,” said Director Anita Valladolid. “We’re grateful to partner with the ON Semiconductor Foundation to expand our resources and efforts for the nutrition program.”
The ON Semiconductor Foundation made the nutrition program possible due to its commitment to serving the needs of communities across the globe through the investment of resources. The ON Semiconductor Foundation, which launched in 2019, is overseen by an employee-based board of directors who manage its daily operations and approve recommendations from grant advisors globally. Since 2016, the company has funded more than $5 million in grants, employee matching and in-kind donations, as well as sponsorships and dollars-for-doers for employee volunteerism.
“Investing in the communities in which we operate and where our employees live is critical to our organization as we look to continue our legacy of giving and volunteering,” said Theresa Haywood-McCarley, senior director of corporate social responsibility at ON Semiconductor and board secretary for ON Semiconductor Foundation. “On behalf of the ON Semiconductor Foundation, we’re proud to support the work of the Senior Activity Center as we work toward making the world better together.”
There are many reasons why seniors participate in the center’s nutrition program. The program reduces hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition and promotes socialization, and delays the onset of adverse health conditions. Many seniors tell the charity that this is their only nutritious meal of the day. The center has never seen this kind of need before. In the month of June, the Senior Activity Center served 2,367 curbside meals to seniors, and out of those meals, 474 were meals to veterans.
Since the pandemic started in March 2020, the Senior Activity Center has also served 16,415 meals as of October 2020, and out of those, were 3,040 veterans, and 2,006 seniors who were over the age of 85 years old.
