Road Toll during National Hunger Awareness Week to benefit Senior Meals of Coös County & Berlin Senior Center

On November 22nd, Tri-County Community Action’s Senior Meals program of Coös County, a provider of the area’s Meals on Wheels, will hold its annual Road Toll fundraiser from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m near the Veterans Park in Berlin, New Hampshire. Last year’s event raised $2,100, and organizers hope to exceed that amount at this year’s event. The elderly population in the Berlin, Gorham, and Milan areas who benefit from the funds raised are your friends and neighbors. In addition to nutritious meals, senior also have opportunities for socialization, events and activities at the Senior Center and access to life-enriching activities. Senior Meals of Coös County is a program of Tri-County Community Action Program, Inc. (TCCAP). The event is meant to highlight Senior Hunger issues on the day before families come together for the Thanksgiving holiday. Senior Hunger leads to poor health and limitations to daily living. With Senior Meals of Coös County, seniors receive a good, healthy, nutritious regular meal, preventing poor nutrition and isolation. Senior has the opportunity to attend a congregate meal site or obtain a home delivery.
Picture if you will, an elderly person living alone, surrounded by memories. Although they can no longer cook for themselves, they can still boil water for tea and get around the house with the aid of a cane. This person is determined to stay in their home for as long as possible. Senior Meals of Coös County helps make this possible for them and many other homebound elderly residents in the Berlin, Gorham, and Milan areas through meal deliveries.
There were 130,305 meals served to over 1,600 seniors in 2016. Often a Meals on Wheels deliverer is the only person our homebound elderly will have contact with; serving as a social call and also a safety check-in. This connection is often more important than the meal.
Our elderly population is growing, and more and more seniors will do what they can to continue living independently in their homes, where they have lived for years. Senior Meals of Coös County will play a significant role in helping them to remain where they choose to stay; in their home.
“This event is important to Senior Meals of Coös County as it allows us the opportunity to inform the public about what a necessary and vital service we provide to our older friends and neighbors living in our communities. We are committed to serving healthy, nutritious meals to all those who request service. Food costs continue to rise, especially for nutritious food. This fundraiser helps to offset those rising costs. The staff of Senior Meals of Coös County take great pride in the delivery these services to our friends and neighbors, and thank everyone for their support of such a great program. ” said Andrea Brochu, Energy, Elder & Outreach Division Director
 “This annual fundraiser is necessary because as our population ages the meals we provide become a vital aspect for a healthy and vibrant aging community,” said Leila Villeneuve, Senior Meals Program Manager
About Senior Meals of Coös County & Berlin Senior Center, a Tri-County Community Action Program, Inc. 
Senior Meals of Coös County served nearly 130,000 nutritious meals to seniors through our 15 congregate meal sites and home deliveries throughout Coös County, in addition to the other social programs and trips that North Country seniors enjoyed. Approximately 1,600 seniors participated in our programs, and 145 volunteered their time. We’ve learned by now that socialization and fighting loneliness is as worthy a goal as the nutrition aspect of the meals we serve. Many of our seniors tell us this is the only social contact they may encounter in a week.  Meal Voucher Actual Value $8.00, Cost to Senior $3.00 by donation. For more information about this program or to volunteer, contact Leila at 752-2545.
About Tri-County Community Action Program, Inc. 
Tri-County Community Action Program, Inc., is part of a nationwide Community Action Partnership, dedicated to fighting the causes and effects of poverty and encouraging self-sufficiency as a board-governed nonprofit organization.  Tri-County CAP has been around for over 50 years, and our roots come from the social justice movements of the 60s and 70s.
Tri-County Community Action Program has headquarters in Berlin, New Hampshire serving Coös, Carroll and Grafton County in the northern region of New Hampshire and over 27,000 New Hampshire residents. TCCAP is a private nonprofit organization that covers more than 4,455 square miles in the Northern New Hampshire region. TCCAP maintains 48 service center sites and serves as a multipurpose, social service and advocacy agency. Guardianship Services have a statewide client base.
We operate outreach offices in each of the three counties we serve, where our clients can come in to sign up for services, or learn about programs that can help them toward greater self-sufficiency.  Our presence in communities has helped lessen the financial burden on local welfare and other social service agencies.  Serving the disadvantaged, from the young to the old, and everyone in between, we respond to unforeseen circumstances meeting needs of our clients and communities we live in.