Pasco Elderly Nutrition "PEN Pals & Partners"

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

Since 2010, the Pasco County Elderly Nutrition Program, a Division of the Pasco County Community Services Department, lost over 50 percent of its staff due to budget cuts. In an effort to continue to provide the same level and quality of service to seniors, the Division staff proactively created and implemented efforts to engage individuals and increase volunteerism, advocacy for the program, and community partnerships. These efforts resulted in the creation of a volunteer network of over 400 Pasco Elderly Nutrition (PEN) Pals and strong network of Public Private Partnerships (PPP). PEN Pals and Partners play active roles in assisting with all aspects of the Elderly Nutrition Program from providing engaging activities at each senior center, to preparing and packaging nutritious food, to delivering nutritious meals and other supplies to homebound seniors, to giving of the space itself to grow the program and serve Pasco County seniors. In the 2015-2016 FY, PEN Pals alone contributed 54,000 hours to the program – the equivalent of 26 FTE Employees and a labor savings of $1,161,000.00. Each one of these valued hours was a gift to the program and impacting the lives of over 800 Pasco County seniors.