On March 15, 2020, the University of Kentucky shut down all county Cooperative Extension Offices from public access due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) Program Assistant in Madison County immediately contacted both Richmond and Berea Senior Citizen Center Directors to ask what she could do to reach out to home bound senior citizens in this time of isolation. The SNAP-Ed assistant was told both locations were still obligated to provide meals to seniors in need, and both were delivering meals every week to a combined 150 home bound seniors. The assistant made a plan with the directors to send nutrition lessons two weeks out of the month, Seasoned & Chop Chop Newsletters the next two weeks, and to add an activity of some kind each week to keep the senior citizens active both mentally and physically.

As the months went on, the number of home delivered meals grew to 165 per week. The assistant also discovered there were several seniors with grandchildren in the home, either they as parents or multigeneration. The assistant teamed up with the Parenting Educator at the Madison County Cooperative Extension Service to provide information on senior issues, such as: finances and estate planning, parenting as a grandparent, and meal planning among a few. Each month, the assistant would call the directors to check in and make any necessary changes to the upcoming month. During one of these calls, the assistant found out that she was the only community partner sending information to this group of home bound senior citizens. This is a population that the nutrition assistant has worked with for many years and understands how isolated they are under normal circumstances. During these unprecedented times, she feels it is more important than ever to reach out to one another and stay connected as much as possible.