SAN ANTONIO – Meals on Wheels San Antonio’s meal deliveries, which were set to stop for 350 people in need in Bexar County due to funding loss amid the government shutdown, will continue.
Vinsen Faris, CEO of Meals on Wheels San Antonio, said the initial October announcement that 350 Bexar County clients would lose their meal delivery service indefinitely, starting the first week of November, would have marked the first time the service was suspended for current recipients.
Faris said that did not sit well with him, and it appears it did not sit well with the community.
Corporate community partners and residents of San Antonio and the surrounding areas responded with an outpouring of compassion and substantial financial donations.
“Over $824,000 has come into Meals on Wheels,” Faris said. “We’re just very thankful to live in the community that we live in.”
One of the affected clients, Carmen Espinosa, expressed gratitude for the donations.
“I definitely want to thank them,” Espinosa said. “Oh, my goodness, thank you so much for hearing us. Thank you so for stepping up right away.”
Espinosa shared that when she was first notified that she would be without the meal delivery service, she lost her appetite and felt stressed.
“I was really sad. Just sad, a little emotional because I count on that,” she said. “You know, there’s nothing else that I don’t worry about where my next meal is coming from because they always show up.”
Espinosa also said she felt distressed thinking about the other clients who rely on the service.
“I was thinking of different people around here,” Espinosa said. “You know, there’s at least three or four people at this complex that they deliver food to.”
After Espinosa learned about the generous donations to keep the meal service going, she called herself “blessed.”
“It says great things about our community,” Faris said. “Our community responds when they hear there’s a need. And they came through loud and clear here.”
The recent donations are sufficient to continue the meal service through the first quarter of the year. As of Monday, there are close to 1,000 people on their waiting list to receive meals.
Faris said efforts to assist those in need are ongoing.
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