Meals for Vets, the flagship program of Honor Veterans Now, received $75,000 grant from The Meadows Foundation to support the fight against food insecurity among Veterans, their families, and surviving spouses. The grant is targeted to be used in 235 counties in Texas that are either rural in nature or don’t have access to the same amount of philanthropy as major metropolitan areas. The grant will supplement existing grant funding and help to expand the effort in these areas. Grant funding will provide funds to travel to many remote areas of Texas to meet with Veterans resources groups and personnel to aid in locating those in need. It will also allow us to help spread the word among Veterans and potential donors to assist our cause.
“We’re honored that The Meadows Foundation has chosen to support the efforts of the Meals for Vets program,” said Honor Veterans Now Executive Director Melinda Froess. “This grant will give us an opportunity to engage with Veterans struggling with food insecurity in rural areas of Texas, and underserved areas. As Honor Veterans Now operates strictly from grants and donations, we hope that our presence in these areas will resonate with potential donors to our Meals for Vets program as well.”
Our first objective is to identify Veterans and surviving spouses who need our services. To do this, we meet with Veterans County Service Officers (VCSO), VA clinic caseworkers, and Veteran coordinators at universities, colleges, technical institutes, and trade schools, discuss with them the services that we provide, and ask for their assistance to identify likely candidate Veterans or surviving spouses for our program. Once candidate Veterans have been identified, the VCSO, VA clinic caseworker, or school Veteran administrator contacts the Veteran and provides them with information and literature on our Meals for Vets program. It is then up to the Veteran or surviving spouse to contact Meals for Vets. To apply for our service the Veteran calls our office or goes online, fills out an application, and submits the required documentation. Once the Veteran is accepted, meals can be provided in as little as four to ten days.
