American Veterans Care Association
Veterans Nutrition Program – Veteran Elder Nutrition Facilities
Veterans Nutrition Facilities (VNF) on bay area communities provide Elders with a nutritious mid-day meal, as well as the opportunity to socialize and meet with others. These Facilities also transport hot meals to those Veterans who are homebound. Often, this is the only satisfying, nutritious meal that a Veteran eats each day. Unfortunately, funding for VNFs is inadequate to fully meet the need for this important service. Centers typically sacrifice providing expensive items such fresh fruits and vegetables for less expensive alternatives such as prepackaged foods, which are typically high in fat and sugar. This is necessary, especially toward the end of each month, in order to feed all of the Veterans in their community.
AVCA’s VNP Food Program helps the ENCs stretch food resources so that they can continue to serve large, nutritious meals right up to the end of the month. In partnership with gift-in-kind agencies, AVCA purchases, at reduced prices, high quality staples such as rice, flour and powdered milk to provide to VNFs. AVCA also delivers dehydrated soup mix that the VNF can enrich with vegetables and also meat if they are available. By partnering with AVCA, the VNFs do not have to compromise on the quality of food at the end of the month when funds are depleted. VNF’s are thus able to utilize what meager funds they have to purchase high quality, nutritious foods such as fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables.
AVCA also works with Program Partners at the VNF’s to distribute products such as blankets, slippers, and personal care items from our future Gift-in-Kind partners.
Fact Sheet: AVCA Veteran Nutrition (Food Program)
Description of the Service — Through this service we distribute food staples to Veterans Nutritional Facilities and soup kitchens in our service area (Bay Area and Jemez Pueblo Tribe in New Mexico). The items are intended to supplement the VNF’s other food items they have available.
Reason for the Service —There are several reasons for this service:
- Veterans use the Nutrition Centers for a hot meal and to socialize – We know that the Veterans Nutrition Facilities are important places for many Vets. They are able to receive a hot noon meal at the centers and socialize with others. Homebound Vets are generally able to have their meal delivered to their homes. We want to support these facilities that tend to be an important resource in the community.
- Veteran Facilities have reported that they sometimes run short on food and have to compromise quality or portion size at the end of the month – Veteran Facilities and centers received Federal funding to provide food, but the funds are frequently not enough to get through the entire month. The food we provide helps the center continue to provide nutrition meal in good sized serving throughout the month.
- We want Veterans Nutrition Facilities to provide fresh food – We hope that if we provide the staples for the facility, they will have some funds available to purchase fresh meat, dairy products and produce for the Elders. We hope that the meals are more fresh and healthier because of the food we deliver.
Product – A standard food package contains items similar to the following items: (SAMPLE ITEMS THAT CAN BE PURCHASED AND DELIVERED)
1-50# bean 1 case #10 cans corn
1-50# rice 1 case #10 can peaches
1-25# bag of sugar 1 case #10 can green beans
1-50# bag of flour 1 case #10 cans potatoes
1-25# bag noodles 1 case #10 cans pears
The varieties on the canned goods changes depending on availability. We sometimes add items to the package if we have a high quantity of food appropriate for this service. We have added items such as energy bars and cake mix. The facility receives one standard food package for every 100 Veterans they serve. When available, we also add paper products that can be used at the feeding sites, such as napkins and paper cups.
Costs – The cost of a standard package varies based on our donations and the prices we get from vendors. A safe estimate is between $300-350 per standard package.
Window of Operation – Partners receive distributions of food every month as long as their reporting is current. They are required to report to AVCA quarterly.
Who is Served – In 2020, we want to partner with Veteran Facilities in the Bay Area and Jemez Pueblo Reservation for AVCA’s Standard Food program. If a program partner fails to report or is dropped from the service for another reason, they are replaced by a partner who is on the waiting list.
AVCA works with Program Partners. They are members of their respective communities who facilitate the needs of our Veterans in our service area. Program partners identifies the basic needs and programs needed to run their facility on their nutritional centers and AVCA provides these important components of nutritious food to supplement their daily needs.
