The Football Tube

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Fundraising for the Souris Valley United Way began with a campaign kickoff in early September. And there are a lot of local agencies cheering them on. We followed Meals on Wheels – – – they credit the United Way for a large portion of the program’s success. Meals on Wheels. The catchy phrase has a lot of helping hands to back it up. (Roger Reich/Executive Dir. Minot Commission on Aging) “They’re all delivered by volunteers that come in every day, Monday through Friday for us and take those out to the seniors that are homebound.” It’s not only those homebound, but also congragate meals for a social experience at the Parker Center, Milton Young and Henry Towers. All together Meals on Wheels serves 200-300 meals a day. (Roger Reich/Executive Dir. Minot Commission on Aging) “Even during the flooding, we never stopped that service. We delivered meals everyday, even through the worst of times we were able to get meals out.” This comes at a price. It’s a mandatory federally funded program, but those funds stretch to about 3.50 a meal when in reality, each meal costs around 7.50. (Roger Reich/Executive Dir. Minot Commission on Aging) “And that’s where United Way comes in. We’ve been big partners with United Way for many years. We ask for grants from them and they always suppliment our income through the United Way.” The United Way recently kicked off their fundraising for the year. With an entity as large as the United Way, sometimes it’s nice to see the little smiles they spark. (Charles & Erna Filipek/Minot Residents) “We enjoy Meals on Wheels all the time. It’s a good service they provide for older people, we just really appreciate that.” (Roger Reich/Executive Dir. Minot Commission on Aging) “These volunteers are the lifeline because everyday that person has someone to talk to, say hi too, see a friendly face everyday. So it’s very important, not only for that senior but it helps the volunteers out too.” This year, the United Way has a goal of $520,000. Every penny will all stay local. Without the United Way and Mea