Leftovers Page #5

We try to make it as pleasant

when someone comes

to the food bank.

We have a good time.

We joke with people, and

we pat them on the back,

and we hug them, and we try

to let them know that they are

a special person.

- Thank you, man.

- Pride is something that

we do within ourselves,

and sometimes we can't help

ourselves, we need help,

and that's what a lot

of our senior citizens,

the pride we stump out of them,

because they don't have the

funding to buy the food,

buy their medicine,

pay their rent,

and pay their utility bills.

So their food is one thing,

and they don't reach out

and holler, I'm hungry.

So, that's the pride, and we

want them to keep that pride.

So when we take a

bag of food to them,

we just talk to them, we don't

say, here's your free food.

We don't say stuff like that.

We say, how are you today?

No matter how hard it is

on them, they're happy.

They're good people,

and they make the best

of what they've got.

And that just makes

you wanna do more.

Organizations are

just not giving

any more to small programs.

And I'm going to start crying.

Let's stop right there.

- [Seth] It's okay to cry.

(Cleda laughs)

- I guess I really am

emotional about this program,

and about what we do.

I just wish more people would.

Just get out here and see it.

It doesn't take a lot of time.

- Well, we just left Booneville,

and been on the road

for about an hour now.

It's one of things, I guess

it's a little bittersweet.

You see some great things, you

see some really sad things.

But the people there,

friendliest, nicest,

nonjudgmental people I've

ever met in my entire life.

I sincerely hope I

make it back sometime.

Once I had confirmation

that senior hunger

is not an economic issue

but an American one,

it was time to start looking

into the way we

treat our seniors.

And there's no better

state in this country

more equipped to deal

with senior issues

than the Sunshine State.

So it was time to

head to Florida.

- I think that's very

important for seniors

to have social activities.

- I'm very independent, so.

Let's put it that way.

As long as I can do my art,

I can carry my own weight,

I wanna be that way.

- [Woman] These here,

everybody gets one, one each.

- [Seth] How important

is something like this,

for the seniors to be a

part of in coming here?

- Oh, I think it's

extremely important,

because of what it

allows them to do.

Attention, everyone.

Oh my, we are so happy

you all are here today.

It allows them to get out

of their homes each day.

They're guaranteed a hot meal.

Socializing, just meeting

with other people.

Forming relationships,

friendships.

You know, it keeps them

from being depressed.

A lot of times when you're

sitting home as a senior,

you tend to concentrate

too much on your illnesses

and things of that nature.

- The socialization is as

important as the nutrition.

Being able to be around

people that are like you,

have a common interest,

a common bond.

- [Woman] Right, right!

(seniors cheering and laughing)

- [Seth] Very good, Jamie.

- Wait, wait, like

this, you open.

- Oh, well, come on now.

(seniors laughing)

- We're talking about

quality of life.

(seniors laughing)

- When you realize how many of

them are widows or widowers,

and a lot of them live

alone, and by that, I mean,

even though a lot of them

live with family members,

it's family members

who have other lives.

They go to work,

kids go to school.

And that person, that senior

person, is sitting there alone,

so this is something for them

to do and still feel involved.

- There are a lot of

community resources, services,

that are available

for older adults.

I mean, there's the

Meals on Wheels,

and there's nutrition sites,

and there's senior centers,

and there's councils on aging,

and there's the area agency

on aging that provides a lot

of services in communities

for older adults,

but a lot of times

it's that older adult

that doesn't realize

those services are available.

- All right, are we ready?

- [All] Yeah!

- Some of them

just come exercise.

Some come just to play Bingo,

because we have Bingo

and we give prizes.

We also have a very

active exercise group

across the hall that,

you heard of Zumba?

- [Seth] I have heard of Zumba.

- Well, we do Zumba now.

- [Seth] Really?

- Yes!

- In first place, we

have Rosebuds with nine.

(cheering)

Repeating, the repeat champs.

- When we were here earlier,

and I saw some of the folks

in your group here, and

to see everyone saying hi

to each other, everyone

waving at each other, smiling,

even though there was

this language barrier,

it seemed that there was this,

again, camaraderie of people.

- The friendship, we

all are human beings.

And we all come here

together, just like a family.

- We seniors need

our senior friends.

- We do Meals on Wheels.

We do neighborhood lunch,

AKA congregate meals.

We do case management,

we do guardianship.

We do home improvement.

We do homemaker services,

personal care services.

We've got about 170 employees

in the state of Florida,

and the funding, it's backwards.

There's more of a bias

on the funding site

for the institutional

nursing home side

than there is for the

community-based side.

And so what we're trying to

do is educate legislators,

you know, on that, to see

if we can rebalance some

of the budget, so that, if

you put a little bit more

on the prevention side,

in terms of, you know,

I'm not even talking about

wellness kinds of issues.

We're talking about

basic needs, as far as

making sure you have groceries,

your house is cleaned,

you know, you're clean,

as far as personal care.

You can get to the

doctor, you can socialize,

those kinds of things.

It makes a huge difference.

And the cost analysis related

to that, it's just phenomenal.

I mean, it's 10 times more

expensive to put somebody

in a nursing home as

it is to put somebody,

you know, to pay for

community-based care.

- Of course, government

always wanna do something

for the seniors, for the

kids, but it's always

missing that element, you know.

And Seniors First

was that element

that puts everything together.

(chanting in Spanish)

- This is like a second family,

because we get along together,

and we miss each other.

Like if I don't come

to for two days a week,

what happened?

- It's great to come over here.

I wish more people

came to visit them.

And you see them, immediately,

that smile from ear to ear,

coming up, and it

tells you, you know,

they're needing that attention.

They come here, because

they're looking to commingle,

to have some company, to

fill that gap that is empty

by families that no longer

pays attention to them.

So I think, it only takes

us a little bit of time.

We all owe it to them.

Look and see who you can

help who's next to you.

- [Seth] Tell me how

important this facility

and the lunch

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