Mayor Keller Marks Half A Million Meals Served to Seniors During Public Health Emergency
Mayor Keller today marked more than 500,000 meals served to seniors since March by helping distribute Thanksgiving lunches at Los Volcanes Senior Center. Home-delivered and drive-through meals are just two of the essential services for seniors the City has maintained throughout the COVID-19 outbreak in New Mexico. Other services include transportation to doctor appointments, care coordination, senior wellness check ins and senior flu shots.
“When coronavirus hit, it put thousands of Albuquerque seniors at risk, seemingly overnight. We stepped up to protect the most vulnerable and make sure no senior had to worry about going hungry, on top of everything else,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “As long as it is needed, we will continue to be there for our seniors.”
While senior centers throughout the City remain closed in an effort to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, five senior centers have been shifted to serve as to-go meal sites for seniors 60 and older. In addition, Senior Affairs continues to deliver meals to homebound seniors. In total, Senior Affairs has seen a 114% increase in meals served between March 1 and Oct. 31.
“Senior Affairs offers meals through home delivery and at Centers as a normal part of our operations, but it is clear that the need has risen over the past few months,” said Anna Sanchez, Director of the Department of Senior Affairs. “Adjustments we made in March have helped us continue to meet demand and keep seniors in Albuquerque fed.”
The five Senior Affairs facilities that are serving as pick-up meal sites are:
- Barelas Senior Center (505-764-6436)
- Los Volcanes Senior Center (505-767-5999)
- Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center (505-275-8731)
- North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center (505-764-6475)
- North Valley Senior Center (505-761-4025)
For those in Bernalillo County who are looking for a way to help, Senior Affairs is conducting a donation drive to help get needed items to homebound seniors. Those items include paper towels, laundry soap, dish soap, shampoo/conditioner, body soap, lotion, hand sanitizer, pet food, personal hygiene products, snacks (low-sodium/sugar-free), shelf-stable food, adult briefs, toilet paper, cleaning supplies and deodorant. They can be dropped off at any of the pick-up meal locations Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Anyone who would like to schedule another time for drop off can call 505-764-6400.
Seniors 60 and over who live in Bernalillo County and have questions about what services they might qualify for, should call the Department of Senior Affairs Senior Information Line at 505-764-6400 or visit cabq.gov/seniors. Seniors who are interested in visiting a pick-up meal site are encouraged to call the location they would like to visit to reserve a meal. Seniors who live outside of Bernalillo County should call 1-800-432-2080.