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Current News & EventIt is time to take a pledge again to help us continue to serve all those who need our help. All donations are tax deductable and we will send you a donation receipt if you requrie one. Ask your employer if they do matching donations to match your already generous gift. Thank you to all individuals, businesses and organizations that help us provide some of life’s basic needs for a hot meal, friendship and a daily wellness check to the residence of our community. The Nutrition program continues to see a growing need and wouldn’t be able to provide these needed services without this support. Each of you are special to our program. Special Thanks go out to: Mrs. Teresa Keith and her continued support Funding for the Strafford Nutrition & Meals on Wheels was provided by the Thomas W. Haas Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation - Piscataqua Region. Thank you for our $2000.00 grant for meals support in our community. 
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Thursday, July 28, 2011
ROCHESTER — It's a bit ironic that Emily Sylvain doesn't like to take things for free. As the director of Strafford Nutrition Meals on Wheels, she helps coordinate hundreds of free meals for area seniors every week. Admittedly, most of the program's funding comes from federal and state monies, but when it comes to soliciting donations from local businesses, she likes the idea of giving something back.
Who should help fund Meals on Wheels? County commissioner says towns, cities are obligated by law
By JOHN NOLAN, Foster's Daily Democrat This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Saturday, July 16, 2011
ROCHESTER — In the wake of the revelation that Strafford County's Meals on Wheels program may have to create a waiting list due to its county funding being zeroed out, several members of the county delegation are noting it is Strafford County commissioners who bear the responsibility for that decision. Meanwhile, the chair of the County Commission, George Maglaras, points out that with a tight budget that has led to at least 31 layoffs of county employees, his board was unable to fund programs that it was not legally obliged to, this year. In the case of Meals on Wheels, that responsibility, he said, legally belongs to the 10 towns and three cities of Strafford County. Meals on Wheels, which serves more than 500 low-income elderly people scattered over 13 communities, has had its annual contribution of $75,000 from Strafford County cut to zero, and this despite Strafford County's state representatives approving a $26.8 million budget that, they indicated to the county commissioners, contained $25,000 for the Meals on Wheels program. Among state representatives, however, there is some disparity about the debate that preceded the passage of this year's county budget. State Rep. Julie Brown, R-Rochester, a longtime supporter of the program, recently told the Rochester Times that in the debate earlier this year by the county delegation (comprising state representatives) she had reached an understanding with others in her party. She would support the proposed budget if they would support $75,000 being restored to fund Meals on Wheels. Brown added, "I didn't realize the budget cut would be so bad. The county commissioners had to cut people at the jail and the nursing home." Another state representative, Fred Leonard, R-Rochester, has a different recollection. "During the budget debate back in March, we caucused as a party to discuss a budget figure we all believed we could vote for that lived up to our promise to the people. It was decided we would propose a level funded budget, but we knew Rep. Brown might have reservations, so I asked her a simple question — what's it going to take to get you to vote for a level funded budget? I then said if we included $25,000 for Meals on Wheels and publicly supported the funding would you vote with the Republicans on the budget? Rep. Brown said yes she would," Leonard recalls. He continues, "I then asked Rep. Brown if she would draft a letter supporting the Meals on Wheels funding we could all sign and she said she would. The letter never got drafted, so I approached Rep. Brown at a Rochester School Board meeting over a month ago and asked her where the letter was. She said it was no use because they (the County Commission) were not going to fund it (Meals on Wheels) anyway." "The $25,000 didn't go to Meals on Wheels because Julie didn't draft the letter to let the commissioners know how the delegation felt," said Leonard. While the county delegation has bottom line control of the county budget, the commissioners have line item control. Brown said she didn't draft the letter because the commissioners had said there was no money. "The commissioners have control of the bottom line (of the budget) so there was no sense to it," she said. "They had to lay off people to balance the budget. Even if all 36 (state representatives) had signed, there was no money." State Rep. Laura Jones, R-Rochester, confirmed Leonard's assertion that the $26.8 million budget was funded at the 2010 level plus enough extra money to enough to give Meals on Wheels $25,000 — although a decision to do so lay with the commissioners. "She (Brown) should have written the letter, even if the county commissioners didn't apply the money to Meals on Wheels. I know the commissioners are really worried about paying off debt, but I think they could pay it off more slowly. It is very sad that the commission didn't fund Meals on Wheels," Jones said. State Rep. Joe Pitre, R-Farmington, said that $53,000 had been added to the level funded budget, with $25,000 of this recommended to go to Meals on Wheels. "Julie put in a good argument for them and we bought it, but they (the commissioners) play their games," said Pitre, adding, "Everyone is hurting right now. We have got to look out for everybody." Maglaras, recalling the budget debate by the county delegation, said that Leonard's early motion was to cut the proposed county budget by $2 million, which failed by 20 votes to 15. Had it passed, it was very possible they would have had to close the county nursing home, he said. In the commissioners' proposed budget (of around $27.5 million) $124,000 was allocated for the county's Extension Service, but services — including Meals on Wheels — which the county has no statutory obligation to fund, were zeroed out. A motion was made by Leonard to cut the budget by $725,326 to $26.8 million, and in the ensuing debate, there was a move to put $75,000 back in for Meals on Wheels, Maglaras recalled, but a formal motion to that effect was never made. When the $725,326 cut was approved along party lines by 18 votes to 16, a recommendation that $25,000 go to Meals on Wheels was not part of the formal motion, said Maglaras, although it had been a formal recommendation of the delegation's 15-person executive committee. Before the final vote, Maglaras noted, two state representatives, Sandra Keans, D-Rochester, and Naida Kaen had left the meeting. Had they voted with their other Democratic colleagues, Leonard's motion would have failed by dint of an 18-18 tie. The 37th member of the Strafford County delegation, Marty Harty, R-Strafford, had already resigned as a result of a controversy. Maglaras emphasized that there was no criticism of the Meals on Wheels service in the decision to cut funding. "It's a great program," he said, "but the social welfare system needs to be reformed." Maglaras, who has been involved in county government for more than 30 years, said that before 1987, the county had a role in direct relief assistance. Legislation in Concord that year, took that role away from the county and gave it to the towns and cities. "I was one of the few voices opposed to that. The county's role prevented poor communities from becoming poorer — it spread the costs, while administration was centralized," Maglaras said. He continued, "Fred Leonard's justification for the cut was to keep the amount raised by taxes flat plus an additional $53,000 — enough to help fund Meals on Wheels and Soil Conservation, but he understood it was up to the commissioners." The County Commissioners, however, faced with having to lay off 31 people, said at the time that it had to fund its statutory obligations, and Meals on Meals is not on that list. "The commissioners had several meetings (after the 2011/12 budget was passed by the delegation) to balance the budget. We laid off more people and shut the Domestic Violence program," said Maglaras. This program, he noted, has been "temporarily re-established" using unanticipated savings from interest due on tax, bond and revenue anticipation notes. "There is not enough money in the system to provide support for programs we are not legally obliged to," Maglaras said.
MARCH for MEALS Take the PledgeA groundbreaking research study found that as of 2007, there were nearly 6 million seniors facing the threat of hunger. Our goal is to match that number - with 6 million people who are willing to stand up and take the pledge with us to End Senior Hunger. By taking this pledge you are committing to help Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) end senior hunger by 2020. You can be a leader in this national movement by volunteering for a local Meals On Wheels program, generating awareness about the problem of senior hunger in America, making a donation, sharing your story, providing ideas about how we as a country can end senior hunger together by 2020, and by doing anything else that you can to provide The Next Meal “so no senior goes hungry.”® Thank you to all individuals, businesses and organizations that help us provide some of life’s basic needs for a hot meal, friendship and a daily wellness check to the residence of our community. The Nutrition program continues to see a growing need and wouldn’t be able to provide these needed services without this support. Special Thanks go out to: Mrs. Gloria Carlsen
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