February 5, 2020

2019 was a wonderful year for our organization and 2020 is going to be even better!  We are adding new initiatives to serve our Island community, especially our older Islanders.

On February 13th we will join with Aging Matters and the Brevard County Parks and Recreation group to celebrate the Seniors At Lunch program held at Woody Simpson Recreation Center.  This program serves hot meals to “seniors” (over 60) and provides social opportunities.  Transportation is available in a limited area.  This is a wonderful program – one of the Best Kept Secrets on Merritt Island.  The Open House os from 9 to 10:30 AM- stop by if you can.

I Love My Island, Inc. is offering our “Healthy Meals for Older Islanders” as an added service to those who participate in this program.  Through interviews and observation, we have found that there are a number of our older residents that do not have food for the weekends or when the program is closed.

This is a bigger issue than most of us want to acknowledge.  If asked, most older people will not tell you they don’t have enough food.  They don’t want to acknowledge their money has run out for the month because they had to pay for medicine or an unexpected repair on their home.  They simply don’t eat as much.  As a neighbor or friend you may notice weight loss or a change in activity level and think it’s all “a part of getting older”.  Too often this is not the case.

Our donors have begun making contributions to help address this problem.  Each week I will be shopping for food – fresh fruit, vegetables and non-perishables – to be available for those who participate in this program to take home.  Although we cannot solve all problems on the Island, we should be able to ensure that our older residents have enough healthy food to eat and this is a first step in that direction.

Carolyn