Thanks to Walmart, We Just Keep on Cookin’
COA Receives $52,000 from Walmart
On Tuesday, May 17th, Robert Midgett, CTL, Export Transportation Operations Manager for Walmart, presented a check from the Walmart Foundation in the amount of $52,000.00 to COA Executive Director Becky Yanni. Looking on during the presentation were Ruthie Shakar, Manager, COA Food Services and Joseph Boles, Jr., President, COA Board of Directors.
How important are these funds and how will they be utilized by the Council on Aging? According to Yanni, “At COA we serve over 400 freshly prepared meals every single day. About 265 of those daily meals go to homebound elders through the COA Meals on Wheels service. The kitchen equipment we have been using to provide these meals is at least 15 – 20 years old; Walmart really stepped up to the plate to help us fight hunger and poor nutrition and enhance the quality of life for the St. Johns County elder community.”
Midgett said that when COA requested the funds, Walmart recognized a real community need. He explained that, “We feel that it’s important to give back to the community through our charitable giving arm, the Walmart Foundation. Our State Giving Advisory reviews submissions and administers the funds via two cycles each year. At Walmart, we strongly believe that it is our job to help support the people that we are able to serve within our community.”
For more information on Meals on Wheels, please contact the Council on Aging at (904) 209-3700.