Meals on Wheels to launch Silver Pantry

May 1—Meals on Wheels of Odessa is excited to announce Silver Pantry, an exclusive resource for Meals on Wheels of Odessa clients.

May is Older Americans Month, and to kick off this month-long celebration of their clients, Meals on Wheels of Odessa is creating the Silver Pantry in partnership with the Junior League of Odessa.

The Silver Pantry idea grew from the League's Pink Pantry, which provides period supplies to young women of school age. When approached about a potential donation, executive director of Meals on Wheels of Odessa Craig Stoker said, "We have clients who reach out from time to time needing things like adult nutritional drinks and incontinence supplies. The League had already set an amazing example with the Pink Pantry, and I thought it would be a great idea to replicate the 'pantry' idea for the older Odessans being served through the Meals on Wheels programs."

According to a news release, the Silver Pantry will serve clients who are enrolled to receive services from Meals on Wheels of Odessa and will be stocked with the help of Meals on Wheels grocery supply partner in this endeavor, H-E-B. Products available to clients will include H-E-B branded adult nutritional drinks, incontinence supplies, oral hygiene supplies, and home cleaning supplies.

"The Silver Pantry is designed to help our clients who have immediate needs, such as needing supplemental nutritional drinks," Stoker said in the release. "Ensure maker Abbott Nutrition has a program to cover the cost of their Ensure line of products, but the application is not simple and requires a doctor to sign off. The Silver Pantry will allow our clients to receive products while the paperwork is completed. Just because a giant corporation has a lot of red tape doesn't mean our clients should suffer, and I am grateful to the Junior League of Odessa and H-E-B for making the Silver Pantry a reality."

Junior League of Odessa President Mallory Langford added, "The Junior League of Odessa is proud to announce our partnership with Meals on Wheels of Odessa on the Silver Pantry to support our older Odessans. Through the Silver Pantry, we are committed to serving our community's elderly population with dignity, respect, and care. The Junior League of Odessa aims to improve our community through effective action and leadership, and we wouldn't be able to do our work without important partners like Craig Stoker and Meals on Wheels of Odessa."

Meals on Wheels of Odessa, 1314 E 5th St., is scheduled to open the Junior League of Odessa Silver Pantry at 10:30 a.m. May 9.