Spectrum Generations AniMeals On Wheels program has announced it received a Meals on Wheels Loves Pets Grant.

Based upon grant applications submitted by Nutrition Coordinators Kellie Bigos, Lynda Johnson and Angela DeRosby, Coastal Community Center in Damariscotta, Cohen Community Center in Hallowell and the Muskie Community Center in Waterville, received grants totaling $7,500 to benefit the agency’s AniMeals on Wheels programs in Lincoln and Kennebec counties, according to a news release from Spectrum Generations.

Spectrum Generations AniMeals on Wheels program was founded so home-bound seniors and disabled individuals in central Maine would not feel compelled to share their limited food and resources with their four-legged friends. AniMeals on Wheels volunteers repackage bulk dog and cat food purchased at local pet food stores with grant funding and individual donations. Zip-locked packages containing a week’s worth of dog and cat food are delivered to Meals on Wheels recipients with dogs and cats once a week along with the MOW recipient’s lunch.

In October 2015, Banfield Charitable Trust handed over all funding and grants administration responsibilities for their Pet Assistance Grant Program to Meals on Wheels America. Since 2007, the grant program has distributed more than $1.8 million in funding and pet food donations to nearly 300 local Meals on Wheels programs across the nation that are working to keep pets and their homebound seniors together.

As central Maine’s Meals on Wheels provider, Spectrum Generations is committed to preparing fresh and nutritionally balanced hot meals for homebound or disabled individuals that are delivered by dedicated volunteers and staff to 128 communities throughout Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Somerset, and Waldo counties, plus the towns of Harpswell and Brunswick in Cumberland County.

Donations to Spectrum Generations Meals on Wheels and AniMeals programs can be directed to Spectrum Generations, One Weston Court, Augusta, ME 04338-2589. Please note whether the donation should be directed to the AniMeals program at the Coastal, Cohen or Muskie community center.