On the heels of its annual fundraising campaign, United Way of the Pennyrile Executive Director Betsy Bond paid visit to the Cadiz Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon — sharing the non-profit’s vision for Trigg, Christian, Caldwell and Todd counties.
With most of the organization’s board members and contributing businesses in Christian County and Hopkinsville, Bond noted it might be easy to overlook the fundraising efforts on first glance — because, maybe, they don’t directly impact Trigg County and the City of Cadiz.
But there’s at least one very critical function the United Way changes lives here near the lakes, and it’s through the Trigg County Senior Citizen’s Center and its highly-regarded “Meals On Wheels” program.
Cissy Lawrence, the center’s director, said that at present time, their kitchen is daily serving 60 home-delivered meals, 60 meals on campus and 15-to-20 meals curbside.
More than 40 remain on a waiting list, and Lawrence noted these meals play an important role in local senior lives.
Lawrence pleaded that some people “seriously” need these meals.
Asked about meal cost, Lawrence said each home-delivered, private-pay cuisine runs close to $15. For the nearly 50 people waiting to be part of the program, that’s almost $750 a day, $3,750 a week, $15,000 a month and $180,000 a year — all of which could be made possible if United Way fundraising expanded.
Bond said the waiting lists were dismissed during the pandemic, but those monies have since shifted elsewhere.
Bond was also able to relay an important story from Princeton, in which “Meals On Wheels” led to a sincere wellness check on an elderly woman.
Dustin Gilbert, a board member for United Way and member of the Cadiz Rotary Club, noted that while all 19 agencies served aren’t specifically headquartered in Trigg County, many of them impact people within these lines.
And if certain fundraising goals are consistently met, there’s a desire to add other non-profit organizations — particularly from Trigg County — into the United Way profile.
“Meals on Wheels” is but a snapshot of what the United Way of the Pennyrile provides. Its 19 organizations and 47 programs assisted also includes the Aaron McNeil House, the American Red Cross, the Armed Services YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club of Hopkinsville-Christian County, the Bright Life Farms, the Christian County Literacy Council, the Christian County Rescue Team, the Christian County Youth Services Advisory Board, the Dyslexia Association of the Pennyrile, the Hopkinsville YMCA Youth Programs, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, Kentucky Legal Aid, the PACS/RSVP, the Pennyrile Children’s Advocacy Center, Sanctuary, St. Luke Free Clinic, The Salvation Army and Trace Industries.
The United Way of the Pennyrile will be holding its campaign kick-starting breakfast Thursday morning at the Christian County Senior Center.
