KCOA rescues holiday meal program from closure

The Kinneret Council on Aging, a nonprofit agency that provides ongoing programs and services to residents of Kinneret Apartments, has rescued a holiday meal program that was formerly run by Jewish Family Services. Approximately, 83 percent of the recipients of this program live in Kinneret Apartments.

The holiday meal program was instituted to provide a hot, delicious kosher meal for Jewish residents during three of the Jewish holidays throughout the year including Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah and Passover. “JFS’s decision to sunset the program provided KCOA with the opportunity to not only take over this program to benefit our own residents, it has also presented us with a real chance to explore ways of expanding this program to benefit our community on other holidays as well,” said Ali Polejes, vice president, Dining Services.

According to KCOA Board President Carol Feuerman, “Kinneret Council on Aging sees this program as a way to serve our current Jewish residents while incorporating the core mission of KCOA to create community for low income seniors and to reach out to Jewish seniors who are homebound.  In this way we can expand our ‘community of care’ and embrace the mission of Caring for Those Who Cared for Us.”

This program is being funded by generous donors in the community as well as the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando and the Hevra Kadisha of Central Florida. Sharon Weil, executive director of Nonprofit Operations at Kinneret Council on Aging, envisions a broader view that would include providing Jewish seniors in need with the opportunity to have a Break fast at Yom Kippur, a Purim celebration, Tu Beshvat Seder and even opportunities to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut.

“We are so grateful to the staff and lay leadership of JFS for their years of support for this extraordinary program and we are looking forward to building upon and even expanding this vision to reach even more Jewish Seniors across Central Florida,” said Weil. She continued, “We are very fortunate to have many community organizations who prepared goodies to include with the meal as well as a big group of dedicated Holiday Meal Delivery volunteers who have delivered meals through the JFS program and willingly continued to do so for Kinneret. Without them, it would be nearly impossible to continue this program.”

Kinneret Apartments, located in downtown Orlando, provides subsidized housing to 300 independent seniors. For information on the facility or to find out how you can donate to KCOA, please go to http://www.kinneretliving.org or contact Sharon Weil at 407-425-4537, ext. 211.