Mature Services Receives $10,000 Grant from Akron Community Foundation
Funds Will Help Provide Food Vouchers so Seniors Have Access to Fresh Food
Akron, Ohio: Mature Services, Inc., a senior services agency in Akron, has received a $10,000 grant from the John A. McAlonan Fund of Akron Community Foundation. President and CEO John T. Petures, Jr. announced the grant after it was approved by the community foundation’s board on May 15, 2017.
Karen Hrdlicka, CEO and President of Mature Services, said grant funds will support the agency’s 2017 Summer and Fall Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. “Our Senior Health & Services Fair was held yesterday so we could distribute the first round of vouchers to Summit County seniors,” stated Hrdlicka. “We anticipated about 600 seniors, and we were able to distribute 600 Farmers’ Market Vouchers to low-income adults age 60 and older. It is because of the funding support from Akron Community Foundation, we are able to give people access to fresh fruits and vegetables.”
According to Valerie Henderson, Community Outreach Representative and the event’s coordinator, the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, funded through Direction Home Area Agency on Aging, provides coupons to low income seniors age 60 and older. “We distribute ten $5 coupons to seniors or their proxies on a first come, first served basis, said Henderson. “This year we also tested a lottery distribution process in Stark and Wayne Counties to see which distribution channels are most effective. The vouchers are requested year round and we do not have enough vouchers or funding, to meet the demand for fresh fruits and vegetables. We are so grateful to the Akron Community Foundation’s support of the program.”
The Senior Health & Services Fair was started last year to provide other nonprofit and community based agencies, as well as local businesses, an opportunity to meet with seniors face-to-face. Blood pressure checks and wellness promotions were provided, as well as information regarding support services available in the community. This year’s event was sponsored by Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro’s Office of Job and Family Services, Community Support Services, Metro RTA, Simply EZ Meals, and Summit County Probate Court. Metro RTA provided free bus passes to seniors so they could attend and students and coaches from Akron Public Schools volunteered to help boxes of donated food from the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to each visitor.
About Mature Services, Inc.
Founded in 1975 as a senior citizen program, the agency has since become an independent, nationally respected not-for-profit dedicated to helping thousands of people remain independent in their own homes as they age, and active in their communities. Today, the agency offers multiple programs to older adults in over 38 counties in Ohio, including employment services, addiction and mental health services, Meals on Wheels, nutrition programs and congregate dining, homecare, and cleaning services. For more information about Mature Services, call 330-253-4597 or visit www.matureservices.org.
About Akron Community Foundation
Celebrating 61 years of building community philanthropy, Akron Community Foundation embraces and enhances the work of charitable people who make a permanent commitment to the good of the community. In 1955, a $1 million bequest from the estate of Edwin Shaw established the community foundation. As of Sept. 30, 2016, it is a philanthropic endowment of more than $190 million with a growing family of 550 funds established by charitable people and organizations from all walks of life. The community foundation and its funds welcome gifts of all kinds, including cash, bequests, stock, real estate, life insurance and retirement assets. To date, the community foundation’s funds have awarded more than $135 million in grants to qualified nonprofit organizations. For more information about Akron Community Foundation or to learn more about creating your own charitable fund, call 330-376-8522 or visit www.akroncf.org.