Puppies from Nate's Honor Animal Rescue visit Daybreak Adult Day Center, a PLUS program.

They call it Puppy Love… and that’s exactly what it is when our friends at Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue bring their sweet puppies over to play! While some of the senior clients at Daybreak Adult Day Center, a program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, have pets at home, many do not. Having the opportunity to pet and play with the puppies is great for both the puppies and our clients. For the puppies, the interaction builds socialization skills and for the seniors, the benefits can include reduced stress, lower blood pressure, and an increase in social interaction and physical activity*. Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue has been a partner with Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee for many years and we are grateful for their continued partnership!  

If you would like to learn more about Daybreak Adult Day Center, click here.   

*https://www.agingcare.com/articles/benefits-of-elderly-owning-pets-113294.htm 

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: The need for food in Manatee County has been soaring this summer… just like the temperatures! During June and July, we have provided over 180,000 meals through the Food4Families program thanks to the generous support of our community! The Food Bank of Manatee is a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee and has a very small number of staff.  Our food distributions this summer would not be possible without the support of our very dedicated volunteers. A few volunteer groups who helped over the summer included: Carl Reynolds Law, Gettel Toyota of Lakewood, Movement Mortgage SWFL Gulf Coast, and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. We have also had several individual volunteers committed to these weekly food distributions including: Mike N., Nicole G., Rhonda F., Dianne C., George G. – THANK YOU to all the volunteers who served tirelessly in the hot Florida summer to feed those in need. More than a meal, families felt relief, hope, and joy in finding a source of food. Thank you to everyone who donated and volunteered to make this life-saving program a reality.

If you are looking for ways to support the Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee mission to #FeedManatee, please click here.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:

As part of their training, managers from First Watch restaurants donate their time and talents to nonprofit organizations in the community. We are always thrilled when the First Watch team comes over to volunteer because they are a fun group – and also a little competitive. They like to get the job done and have fun doing it, but they also like to go fast! Yes, you read that right- fast! How fast? In their last visit in July, the team from First Watch packed 575 Food4Families bags in under 30 minutes. The fast-pace of their restaurant kitchens and dining rooms must be what prepares them so well for such a successful, and amazingly quick packing project! Thank you First Watch for helping us #FeedManatee. 

Inspired by the First Watch team? You can volunteer, too! Click here to read more about how you can get involved!

In the summer months, when the quantity of in-kind food donations slows quite a bit, we rely on the support of local businesses and organizations to host a food drive or group collection. These food collections bring desperately needed non-perishable food items back into The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, so they can be put to immediate use to feed people in our community. Our friends at Kacey’s Seafood & More and Lazy Lobster heard about our need for food and stepped up to host a food drive! Almost 600 pounds was collected to help feed those in need! Thank you, Kacey’s Seafood & More and Lazy Lobster for this AMAZING support!   

If you are interested in hosting a food drive or group collection, click here to read more.

Mike K., Home-delivered Meals volunteer, proudly wears one of the new volunteer shirts provided by Mosaic Florida Operations.

Volunteers for our Home-delivered Meals program deliver so much more than meals to our clients! As a friendly face, our volunteers are often the only person our clients see each day. Their visit to deliver meals, fresh produce, pet food, and other supplies is so very important. 

When a volunteer driver arrives at our Mosaic Home-delivered Meals Warehouse, they are greeted, their car is loaded, they receive their route sheet, and they are off - on their way to help provide food, and hope! Serving all areas of our community, there are routes covering ALL of Manatee County – East to West, North to South! 

Our volunteers are in the car, out of the car, unloading, and delivering! It’s a hot job, particularly in the summer months. We are grateful to Jackie Barron, our board chair, and all our friends at Mosaic Florida Operations for providing moisture-wicking shirts to help keep our volunteers cool and looking sharp! 

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of our life-saving work, please contact Amy Towery, VP of Development at 941-747-4655 X1238. More information about our sponsorship opportunities is available here.

Donna, Friendship Dining Coordinator, teaches the word "dad" in American Sign Language (ASL) to guests at the Friendship Dining Center

American Sign Language (ASL) is used by around 500,000 people in the US and Canada*. Clients at our Friendship Dining Center recently learned about ways to use ASL hand signals to communicate. A skill that anyone, infants through adulthood, can learn, ASL is used to communicate ideas, feelings, and emotions. 

Friendship Dining Coordinator, Donna, studied Sign Language and shared her knowledge and some basic ASL signs with the clients. 

Friendship Dining Centers provide clients with opportunities to learn new skills and grow at their own pace. Both Donna and Sandy, who coordinate the Friendship Dining Center, provide clients with interesting and fun programming. If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about our Friendship Dining Center locations and the exciting programs offered, please click here.

*https://www.startasl.com/americansignlanguage/#:~:text=American%20Sign%20Language%20(ASL)%20is,in%20the%20US%20and%20Canada