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MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) -- “Here are my beautiful little orchids—I love my orchids,” 107-year-old Waco resident Maxine said.
Ms. Maxine turned 107 in February, and in her spare time, she tends to her orchids and occasionally turns on the wheel of fortune. But for the past three years, every weekday at around 11 a.m.
“I kind of wait on my Meals on Wheels,” Maxine said.
She knows a good meal and pleasant company are on the way.
“They give me an incentive to get up in the morning and dress and know someone’s going to come before too long, and I’m going to be talking to them, I like putting on something different, so they see,” Maxine said.
However, people like Ms. Maxine may no longer be receiving these daily visits.
“We’re good for this year, but we don’t know for how long,” Rachel Salazar said.
In 2023, Meals on Wheels Waco received enough state funding for almost 114,000 meals. In 2024, state funding covered just over 94,000 meals. After federal funding cuts this year, that number is drastically lower, at 66,636 meals.
“The numbers were high in 2023 and 2024 because where we’re coming off the COVID pandemic period, a lot of money, so they’re pulling that back. So, we’re getting those funds cut for home delivery meals,” Rachel Salazar said.
Meals on Wheels serves more than 850 people in Central Texas and has a waiting list of more than 400 people.
“The other factor too that affects us is the rising cost of supplies (butted) now more than ever, we need everyone’s help,” Salazar said.
Ms. Maxine told 25 News Reporter Dominique Leh she would hate to see programs like Meals on Wheels, which people have paid into their whole lives through taxes, threatened to be taken away.
“Well, you know, I think for years, I paid into a system that’s supposed to care for older people for one thing,” said Maxine. “I’ll say a little prayer here."
Salazar says because of the low funding, they are no longer accepting referrals because they’re already over-serving.
