In Partnership with St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, O’Farrell Funds Six Months of Meals for 145 Seniors in Council District 13

WESTLAKE – In recognition of Hunger Action Month, Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell today presented St. Vincent Meals on Wheels (SVMOW), one of the country’s largest, privately funded senior nutrition programs, with a check for $261,000. The funds will go to provide six months of meals for 145 hungry seniors served by SVMOW in the 13th District, represented by O’Farrell.

“I have always prioritized helping seniors, and I am proud to partner with St. Vincent Meals on Wheels to provide more than 26,000 meals for seniors in my district,” said Councilmember O’Farrell. “This lifesaving program allows our vulnerable senior population to live in greater comfort and dignity, and is more important than ever as we emerge from the pandemic.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed an even larger hidden epidemic of senior hunger than we had ever seen before. Our seniors must make impossible choices every day between healthful food or paying their rent and utilities,” noted St. Vincent Meals on Wheels Executive Director Veronica Dover, adding, “This generous grant from District 13 will help to alleviate the hunger of these frail, homebound seniors. We are incredibly grateful to Councilmember O’Farrell and his team for collaborating with us to serve these seniors who need it so much.”

SVMOW was founded on July 7, 1977 by Sr. Alice Marie Quinn, Daughter of Charity, with a single pot of stew in a parish basement. Over the past 45 years, SVMOW has grown to feed thousands of frail, mostly elderly individuals throughout Los Angeles, serving nearly 1,000,000 meals a year. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for meals has soared, leading to a 60% increase in clients and meals served.

O’Farrell’s partnership with SVMOW builds on his ongoing efforts to address food and housing insecurity in the 13th District, particularly for Angelenos who have been affected by the pandemic. Notably, O’Farrell has partnered with the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund (SALEF) to distribute more than 70,000 pounds of food to low-income families in his district. Additionally, O’Farrell worked to create robust COVID-19 eviction protections, and was one of the architects of the City’s COVID-19 rental relief program, totaling more than $300 million, that helped thousands of Angelenos stay in their homes despite the economic turmoil wreaked by the pandemic.