"Jim is kind of like the sun coming up on a cloudy day, he really is," said Madison County resident Eunice Cole. "He's always cheerful and always has such a good attitude."

Every day is a challenge for Eunice Cole and her husband William. Homebound and living in Madison County, the couple both look forward to their daily visit from Jim Weinert.

"Some of em' call me a guardian angel," Jim Weinert said Tuesday morning.

For the last two years Weinert has been delivering nutritious meals to seniors in Madison County.

"They look forward to me coming and sometimes I'm the only person they see each day," said Weinert. "These people definitely need this service, many of them wouldn't have the opportunity to get a good balanced meal at all if it weren't for this program."

The senior meal program is funded through a grant from the Brazos Valley Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging, or BVAAA.

"It is a great partnership between the BVAAA, Madison County and the City of Madisonville and the resource center," said Madison Health Resource Center Executive Director Camilla Viator. "Through the BVAAA we get funding that they get to do the meals program, we also get money from the county and from the city."

According to the BVAAA website, the Texas Department on Aging statistics indicated that up to 85% of people over age 65 are at risk of malnutrition due to risk factors including isolation, poverty, disability, chronic prescription drug misuse, and dietary choices.

In Madison County alone, more than 1,500 meals are prepared for senior citizens each month. According to the BVAAA, 217 meals are served at senior centers in Madison County per month, where 1,306 meals are delivered each month. Viator sad roughly 65 to 70 senior citizens are fed through this program daily.

"It benefits you time-wise and it benefits you financially, especially if you are homebound," said Cole. "My husband has a trache and he also has COPD and sometimes if I can't get a ride to the store, we don't have any other options."

But with federal spending falling by the wayside, Camilla Viator said over the years the agency has had to do more with less money.

"Because we've gone to a program where we're not fixing the meals by scratch and ordering them frozen, we're able to save a little money because it's already pre-packaged," said Viator.

While also serving double the number of seniors in just the last two years. Inmates also play a role in the savings process. The meals are commercially prepared, shipped in frozen and then stored at the Madison County Jail. Jim then picks up the meals and begins his route.

Because Madison County's meal program has become so efficient--Viator said other area counties will soon mirror the same format. It's a program that has essentially become a safety net for seniors while providing people like Weinert the chance to give back one meal at at time.

In order to be eligible for the home delivered meals in your county--you must be 60 years or older and you must be home-bound. In Madison County there is currently a waiting list for the meal program.

The numbers below represent a county-by-county look at how many meals are prepared each month.

Brazos
Congregate (C1) : 530
Home Delivered Meals (C2): 1807

Home Delivered Meals (C2): 7093

For more information on the meal program in Madison County, you can contact the Madison Health Resource Center at 936-349-0714. For all other counties, click on the website below this story.