New River Valley Agency on Aging

Help us feed the need.....

Right here in the New River Valley, over 435 home bound seniors struggle daily with food. It’s not just a matter of proper nutrition, it's basic access to food. And in homes with pets, seniors and their animal companions struggle to maintain a balance for both to eat together. Federal statistics on hunger place 1 in 2 seniors at risk of malnutrition. The causes stem from physical confinement in the home, limited finances and lack of a support network to step in and assist. Daily, we hear from seniors worried about their next meal, what will they have to eat over the weekend and how will they be able to feed their cat or dog. Since the pandemic began, the number of seniors and pets facing food insecurity has more than doubled at our Agency! 

The New River Valley Agency on Aging has worked hard to address both senior and pet hunger. Development of programs, like our Staples 4 Seniors and Fido’s Pantry have helped ensure that eating is a choice, and not a challenge. But like any hunger relief program, we constantly are in need of donors to help bridge critical gaps in the food network, ensuring older, home bound adults and their furry companions have adequate food each day. Our programs have grown tremendously over the past two years, but challenges exist for our Agency to keep a constant supply of food on hand to deliver across the NRV.

Each of our hunger relief programs doesn’t just provide nutrition as an overall goal; they work to curb social isolation in our most rural areas. And it is not just the human contact established when our volunteers deliver food into the home; we have found it is the human-animal bond that is central to keeping a home bound older adult active and engaged. The pet provides entertainment, companionship and communication outlets to a senior that may not have contact with another peer.....We firmly believe that a healthy, happy pet equates a healthy, happy senior!

Will you help us keep the need fed and growing here in the NRV? 

Giving options exist to provide food to a home bound senior, their cat, their dog or even the entire household. Giving is easy and rewarding during Give Local NRV…..it's point, click & donate. A local senior and his or her pet will benefit from your generosity and will no longer worry about the most basic of all….food.

Let me help feed the need:

“I want to pack the pantry”: Your $40 gift will supply weekend meals to a local senior for 1 month.

“I’m meowing out loud”: Your $15 gift will supply canned  or dry food to a home bound senior’s feline companion for 1 month.

“Let me bark out my support”: Your $20 gift will supply canned or dry food to a home bound senior’s dog for 1 month.

“I’m all about pets & people”: Your $60 gift keeps a senior and their household pet fed for one month.

“Let me be a personal shopper”: Your gift of $ ______ will help purchase food items to stock our Agency's food pantry.