By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The good news is the Wood County Committee on Aging has been selected to receive $350,000 in COVID relief funds to meet the increased nutritional needs of local senior citizens.
The bad news is that more senior menu favorites aren’t available now due to supply chain issues brought on by COVID.
Denise Niese, executive director of the WCCOA, reported to the agency’s board on Wednesday that crowd-pleasing recipes – like King’s Ranch Casserole – can’t be served up right now, at least not without variations.
Like other agencies and schools across the nation that feed mass quantities, the Wood County Committee on Aging is seeing some of its customary ingredients dry up due to supply chain issues caused by COVID.
For example, when Director of Food Services Angie Bradford put King’s Ranch Casserole on the menu recently, she found that the shelves at Gordon Food Service had no cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup.
“The seniors really like it,” Niese said of the casserole. “She went to WalMart and emptied the shelves of cream soup.”
That still wasn’t enough to make the popular casserole of diced chicken, cheese, corn tortillas and cream soups. So Bradford had to supplement with chicken gravy.
Mandarin oranges are also on the list of items that can’t be gotten.
“So the seniors are getting whole oranges,” Niese said.
Bulk food prices have shot through the kitchen roof, she added.
“They’re charging up to four times the normal cost.” And often Bradford has to find items at non-bulk stores – which adds to the expense, Niese said.
“Everytime she submits an order there are things she can’t get and she has to modify,” Niese said.
In order to have the best chance of having her shopping list filled, Bradford stays up late to submit it online one minute after midnight on the day her orders have to be placed.
“So she’s the first in line,” Niese said.
The competition is stiff, with other agencies feeding mass quantities in line for the same food.
“Schools are ordering. Nursing homes are ordering. Everybody is ordering,” Niese said.
Paper supplies are also coming up short. The four-ounce cups normally used for some side dishes in the home-delivered meals are not available – so six-ounce cups are taking their place. That has led to some confusion, with some seniors thinking they are getting smaller amounts since the cups aren’t full, Niese said.
But on the positive side, Niese reported that the Wood County Committee on Aging will be getting $350,000 in COVID relief funds from the Ohio Department of Aging to help provide nutritional foods to local senior citizens.
Before the pandemic, the WCCOA delivered about 525 meals a day to seniors. That number grew to about 800 a day during COVID. In 2020, the agency delivered 204,508 meals to homebound seniors throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
