GRADD recognized for senior nutrition initiatives

Green River Area Development District (GRADD) received a 2015 Innovation Award at the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Annual Training Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 27.

The award was given in recognition of the region’s work to address hunger among its local senior citizen population. Specifically, it spotlighted three recent GRADD initiatives:

• Area county fiscal courts and United Way of the Ohio Valley allocated $156,000 in additional funds last year to add 100 seniors to GRADD’s “Meals on Wheels” program, which delivers hot, nutritious lunches to homebound residents five days a week.

• GRADD partners with Independence Bank and Comfort Keepers to sponsor the annual “Feed Seniors Now” food drive, collecting canned goods and nonperishable items. Since 2011, this unique public-private campaign has yielded two weeks’ worth of groceries for 1,840 low-income seniors.

• This past spring, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association sought to rally local agencies to address community needs, in conjunction with their Ohio Valley Will Graham Celebration in Owensboro. Local churches “adopted” 52 citizens on GRADD’s “Meals on Wheels” waiting list and provided each of them with 10 shelf-stable meals.

“For nearly 30 years, NADO’s Innovation Award has provided regional development organizations the opportunity to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to promoting economic development in rural and small metropolitan communities across the country,” said NADO 2014-2015 Board President Terry Bobrowski, Executive Director of the East Tennessee Development District in Alcoa, Tennessee.

“Building on the unique strengths and challenges of each region and community, award recipients continue to promote sustainable economic growth not only now, but for many years to come.”

NADO is a Washington, DC-based association that promotes programs and policies that strengthen local governments, communities and economies through regional cooperation, program delivery and comprehensive strategies.

The association’s Innovation Awards program spotlights regional development organizations and partnering agencies for improving the economic and community competitiveness of our nation’s regions and local communities.

For more information about this award-winning project, please contact Jiten Shah, GRADD Executive Director, at 270-926-4433.

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