Trump proposed budget eliminates funds for Meals on Wheels

by Paulina Firozi - 03/16/17 12:50 PM ET

President Trump’s proposed budget blueprint eliminates funding for Meals on Wheels, a program that provides meals for the poor, elderly and veterans.

Trump’s proposed cuts include $3 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant program, which includes Meals on Wheels among other housing and community programs.

The budget outlines more than $6 million in cuts for HUD, a 13.2 percent decrease from its current funding.

{mosads} Meals on Wheels programs nationwide receive 35% in aggregate of their funding from the federal budget, according to the organization.

A spokeswoman for Meals on Wheels America clarified that earlier reports that the service received just 3% of its funding from government grants refers to Meals on Wheels America, the national membership organization, rather than the 5,000 local programs across the country that provide meals for seniors.

Meals on Wheels, which provides food to individuals who are unable to leave their homes, says it served more than 219 million meals to 2 million seniors in 2015.

—Updated April 4

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