JABA Collects Soup for Seniors

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Updated: 6:16 PM Jan 16, 2012 JABA Collects Soup for Seniors For the last two weeks, the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) has been collecting soup for seniors. Monday, as part of a Martin Luther King Jr. service project, volunteers sorted and stacked those donations. Posted: 4:54 PM Jan 16, 2012 Reporter: Bailey Disselkoen Email Address: bailey.disselkoen@newsplex.com

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January 16, 2012

For the last two weeks, the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) has been collecting soup for seniors as part of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service project.

Monday, dozens of volunteers, including newly appointed Mayor Satyendra Huja, gathered at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank to sort and stack donations collected during JABA's "Soup for Seniors" canned food drive.

Organizers say they picked Monday because Martin Luther King Jr. was such a large advocate of serving others, and also because so many people were off of work.

"Many people are off work and out of school, so you can bring your family, bring canned goods, and this will supply our program for the year hopefully," said Martha Williams of JABA.

Wal-Mart lent a helping hand by dropping off a truck-load of donated food. The food bank says this year more seniors are in need than ever before.

"The reality is kids and seniors are falling into poverty at a faster rate than any other group in our community," said Michael McKee. "The problem is really severe in the winter when seniors need to spend more money heating their homes than they have for food."

The last time JABA held an event similar to this they collected 8,000 pounds of food. Organizers are hoping to double that number this year.

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