HARRISBURG, Aug. 30, 2007 - Responding to a shortage of food vouchers for lower-income senior citizens, Dauphin County Commissioners Jeff Haste, Nick DiFrancesco and George Hartwick III have worked out a plan with the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to serve seniors on the waiting list.

Their efforts resolve an issue that surfaced earlier this month, when the state ordered counties to return all unused food vouchers. The state's request came because the recently passed state and federal budgets did not include sufficient funding to pay for all the vouchers they had disseminated to counties.

Under this popular program, county Area Agencies on Aging give $20 vouchers to income-eligible seniors to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at local farmers' markets. County residents are eligible for the vouchers if they are 60 years of age or older and have a gross annual income of less than $17,705 for a single individual or $23,736 for married couples.

When Kendall Hanna of the Food Bank heard that many seniors who came for vouchers at several county distribution sites went home empty-handed, he offered to partner with the county to serve the 79 people on the waiting list. He and the commissioners worked out a plan allowing the Food Bank to send $20 GIANT gift cards to these seniors. According to Hanna, the Food Bank expects to send the gift cards to seniors through regular mail by early September.

"We are so grateful to the Food Bank for stepping in at this critical juncture to help our most vulnerable seniors," Hartwick said. "We have always promoted partnerships in the community, and this joint effort is another example of how partnerships can help us serve critical unmet needs without the use of county tax dollars."

"Making sure that seniors have access to nutritious food is a core part of our mission," said Hanna. "We are pleased to help the commissioners get healthy food into the hands of residents who often need it the most."

Dauphin County also works with the Food Bank to help fund the Elder Share program. Just this month, the commissioners awarded the Food Bank a $10,000 grant for the program, which delivers about 300 boxes of food to income-eligible seniors once a month.

"Through cooperative efforts such as this, we are able to identify seniors who may qualify for both of these programs," Area Agency on Aging Director Robert Burns said.

For more information on the market voucher bank and Elder Share program, please call the county Area Agency on Aging at 780-6130.