PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Feeding America data shows that the number of food-insecure seniors is rising. 

Based on its research, it says nine million seniors could be food insecure by 2050. 

What You Need To Know

Neighborly Senior Care Network requested $1 million in funding in the 2026-27 state budget

The nonprofit said the dollars will keep seniors from returning to the waitlist

While the program is mostly funded by federal money, the organization said those dollars are uncertain

Neighborly served more than 500,000 meals in 2025

Neighborly Senior Care Network’s Meals on Wheels in Pinellas County has a waitlist that it’s looking to shrink. 

To help accomplish that, they are requesting additional state funding. 

With the delivery bags loaded with food, volunteers are ready to feed hungry seniors.

“I do it because it’s something that I feel like you should be doing to give back to the community,” said Tom Henkel, a volunteer.

Henkel has been volunteering with Neighborly Senior Care Network’s Meals on Wheels for more than five years, and he goes the extra mile.

“Everybody gets a banana on Tuesdays. They all look forward to it,” Henkel said.

While the number of people he delivers to has fluctuated over the years, Henkel said the need is great.

“I’ve seen a lot of folks who this is the only meal they get all day and how important it is for them to receive a meal that’s nutritionally balanced like these meals are,” Henkel said.

Neighborly now serves 500,000+ meals every year. Last year’s total was a more than 30,000 increase from the number of meals provided in 2023.

James White has been using Meals on Wheels for over a year. He said it’s a great financial help.

“I’m disabled, so I don’t have to go out as much. I don’t have to do all the walking through the store and plus food today, it’s just real expensive,” said James White.

Most of Neighborly’s clients are served through approximately $2.5 million in federal funding, but the nonprofit said that money is always uncertain. State funding helped in the last two fiscal years. The $750,000 from last year’s Florida’s budget, Neighborly said, helped get hundreds of people off its waitlist.

“Right now, we’re lucky that it’s, it’s all-time low, about 600 people because of the state appropriation that we’ve received recently,” said Anita Cihlar, nutrition director, Neighborly Care Network.

The nonprofit is requesting $1 million in funding in the 2026-27 state budget. Cihlar said the funding will prevent seniors from returning to the waitlist.

“We want to just keep those people fed — it’s about almost 800 people. That’s a lot of seniors that could go without meals and go back on the waitlist if we didn’t get the funding again,” Cihlar said.

Henkel, who sees the impact firsthand, said the money would help many seniors in the county that he enjoys serving every week.

“I would highly recommend that if anybody is interested in volunteering, that they look up their local Meals on Wheels program and see how they can go about doing so,” Henkel said.

The Older Americans Act, which provides about $2.5 million to Neighborly’s nutrition program, expired in 2024. 

A reauthorization act was introduced in June 2025. It has had no movement through Congress yet.

Neighborly said their OAA funding has remained steady even without its reauthorization.