WAGES partners with business to provide meals during holiday
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on November 30, 2016 9:57 AM
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Berkshire Hathaway agent Sue Howell, left, WAGES Older Adult Services Director Brownie Doss and agent Danny Southerland pose for a photograph at the Berkshire-Hathaway office Tuesday.
Every year, people all over Wayne County rely on the WAGES Meals on Wheels program to make sure they have enough to eat.
During the holiday season, however, WAGES, or the Wayne Action Group for Economic Solvency, closes down for Christmas. To make sure Meals on Wheels clients still have enough to eat, the organization will partner with Berkshire-Hathaway real estate to collect food and money ahead of time, which they will distribute to those people as a kind of buffer while Meals on Wheels is on hiatus.
Brownie Doss, WAGES director of Older Adult Services, said that the Christmas break this year runs from Dec. 23 through 27, which is the longest period of time the organization is closed all year. As many of the 350 Meals on Wheels recipients in Wayne County are older people for whom grocery shopping is very difficult, the daily meal they receive through the program is very important.
Ms. Doss said that, to this end, Berkshire-Hathaway has cooperated with WAGES for many years to provide food in advance of this break. Berkshire-Hathaway is currently accepting donations at their location at 1004 N. Berkeley Blvd., and Ms. Doss said that there are a few specific types of items that WAGES needs.
"The best thing, honestly, would be money. If someone asked if they should just send money or go out and buy something, I'd ask them to send money so we can have a bit more uniformity in what we have," she said. "But some people like to go out and buy something, and that is great too. Any individual cans of fruit, soups, shelf staples like crackers and hot chocolate, we would really appreciate it."
Danny Southerland, a broker agent for Berkshire-Hathaway, is helping coordinate the program. He said that every agent at the company will be required to participate, and that information on donating will be sent to anyone the company has sold a house to.
"We think it's a worthwhile benefit to our community," Southerland said. "We'd like to assist not only with their home needs, but with the needs of the county."
For more information on donating, contact Ms. Doss at 919-580-1790.