Feeding Westchester teamed up with United Hebrew of New Rochelle for a first-of-its-kind pilot program to deliver fully cooked and nutritionally balanced meals to residents of United Hebrew”™s senior housing apartments who may struggle with food preparation turning some seniors to fast food and frozen dinners, which likely don”™t provide the nutrition needed to reduce chronic disease risk or promote healthy aging.
Of the 20 million pounds of food that Feeding Westchester distributes annually, none is cooked. What to include in the meal and how to deliver it required meticulous research and planning around food safety, according to Nicole Dobson, a nutritionist and manager of programs at Feeding Westchester. Working with the team at Montverde at Oldstone, the Cortlandt Manor caterer that is donating its services for the pilot program, she decided on a meal of sauteed broccoli with lemon-basil chicken and herbed rice. It was delivered to 150 residents at United Hebrew”™s Soundview and Meadow Lane Senior Apartments on April 21.
With the one-day pilot completed, the project partners hope to replicate and scale the program.
