St John Valley Gets New Nutrition Van
The Aroostook Agency on Aging has partnered with Pelletier Ford of Fort Kent to help bring a new van for the Meals on Wheels program to the St. John Valley.
According to Steve Pelletier, the owner of Pelletier Ford, this project has been in the works for the better part of a year in order to give back to the community.
Meals on Wheels is a program offered by the Aroostook Agency on Aging, which provides home delivered meals to older adults in the region, in coordination with other nutrition services such as congregate dining centers and the USDA Senior Food Box program. Last year, the Meals on Wheels program provided over 43,000 meals to more than 430 individuals throughout Aroostook County.
The current Meals on Wheels van was over 12 years old and had logged over 250,000 miles. Receiving only a small grant from a Maine foundation, the Aroostook Agency on Aging approached Pelletier Ford in hopes that they might figure out a creative funding way to pay the remaining cost of a van. Joy Barresi Saucier, Executive Director of the Agency, said that Pelletier's "not only pledged their own support, they helped rally the entire St. John Valley business community to follow their lead." A total of 26 businesses and individuals from the St. John Valley contributed nearly $25,000 to make the van a reality.