According to census.gov, Wolfe County’s population in 2016 was 7,159. 18.6% of that population is over 65 and 32.2% of the total population is in poverty. By these numbers, approximately 429 seniors over the age of 65 are living in poverty.

Wolfe County is considered a food desert by the USDA standards of:

“Low-income census tract where more than 100 housing units do not have a vehicle and are more than ½ mile from the nearest supermarket, or a significant number or share of residents are more than 20 miles from the nearest supermarket.”

Accessing nutritious foods is certainly a struggle for a large portion of the county, including seniors.

For 10 years, Wolfe Co. Extension, Wolfe Co. Judge Executive, county employees, and volunteers have worked together with God’s Food Pantry to provide food boxes containing items from all food groups to eligible seniors (those over 60 years of age and meeting low-income guidelines). These boxes contain nutritious USDA commodity foods and currently have a retail value of $60/box.  When this collaboration began, 50 boxes were distributed. That number has now grown to 324. For 2017, we were able to distribute 3,888 boxes for a value of $233,280.00.

From March 2010 to December 2017, 26,580 boxes have been distributed. As a result, this effort has provided a retail value of $1,332,960.00 of nutritious food to Wolfe County Seniors. By providing this opportunity to our eligible seniors, we can help ensure that no senior goes without access to nutritious food.