Sentinel photo by SIERRA BOLGER
Chelsea Reed, the aging director of the Mifflin-Juniata Area Agency on Aging, speaks during the Mifflin County Veterans Organization meeting on Thursday.

REEDSVILLE — Veterans over age 60 have access to a wide range of services through the Mifflin-Juniata Area Agency on Aging, Aging Director Chelsea Reed told members of the Mifflin County Veterans Organization during its meeting Thursday.

Reed outlined programs available through the agency and its parent organization, Mifflin-Juniata Regional Services Corp., including home-delivered meals, personal emergency response buttons, personal care assistance, grocery shopping, laundry assistance and transportation services.

She explained that Mifflin-Juniata Regional Services also oversees Call-A-Ride, the Shared Ride transportation program and free, unbiased Medicare counseling.

“Regional Services also has volunteer programs, and without those, a lot of the Area Agency programs wouldn’t be possible,” Reed said.

Reed encouraged eligible residents to take advantage of the agency’s farmers market voucher program. Qualified applicants may receive $5 vouchers by visiting the agency’s office at 25 Rothermel Drive in Yeagertown with identification and completing an application. Applications also are available online.

She noted that home-delivered meals are available regardless of income, with participants eligible to receive up to five meals each week.

The agency’s care management program also provides personal emergency response systems for qualifying residents.

“To apply, you call into the office with a referral,” Reed said. “They’ll set up an appointment and come out and do an assessment with you. Have you fallen a lot? Do you live alone? Those sorts of things.”

Home support services include assistance with grocery shopping and laundry, generally every other week for up to two hours. Staff or contracted providers can transport clients to grocery stores or shop on their behalf before helping put groceries away. Laundry assistance is available either in the home or at a laundromat.

Personal care services include assistance with bathing, grooming and dressing.

Reed also highlighted the agency’s monthly ElderShare food box program, which distributes between 175 and 200 food boxes each month to older adults in Mifflin and Juniata counties experiencing food insecurity.

The agency operates four senior centers — Four Seasons Senior Community Center in Mifflintown, Lewistown Senior Community Center, McAlisterville Senior Community Center and the Milroy Senior Community Center. The centers offer weekday meals for a suggested $1 donation along with exercise classes, games, health screenings, educational programs, arts and crafts, volunteer opportunities and occasional trips.

Attendance is voluntary, and participants may attend as often or as infrequently as they choose.

In other business

Vietnam veteran Bob Lauver, representing Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 7981, presented the Mifflin County Veterans Organization with a $2,000 donation.

Lauver said the chapter raised money to support maintenance of the veterans memorial in Burnham and to honor its members by displaying military banners throughout the borough.

He also announced a National Purple Heart Day ceremony scheduled for Aug. 7 at the park in Mifflinburg and encouraged residents to attend.

Mifflin County Veterans Organization President Ed Mann reminded veterans, active-duty service members and their families that the organization meets at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Reedsville Fire Company.

“If we can’t do it, we’ll find someone who can,” Mann said of the organization’s mission to connect veterans with services and assistance.