The Ocean County Board of Commissioners recently awarded key contracts that provide home delivered and congregate site meals for seniors living in the County.

“Our home delivered meal program functions as a lifeline for thousands of senior citizens living in Ocean County that may be homebound or unable to cook for themselves or simply can’t get to a store to purchase food,” said Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Barbara Jo Crea, chairwoman of the Office of Senior Services. “The elderly who are having a hard time making ends meet can at least be secure in knowing they will have a meal delivered to them every day.”

The Board awarded a $3,534,008 contract to Community Services Inc., to provide home delivered meals, congregate meal services and other programs for the elderly.
Under the Community Services Inc. contract for the New Year, the County anticipates providing more than 264,000 home delivered meals to 1,400 clients. An additional 8,700 congregate meals will be provided at the senior nutrition sites throughout the County.

“The home delivered meal is much more than just a meal delivery,” Crea said. “It’s so important because in some instances this is the only contact some of our seniors have with someone during the day. It’s a health check, it’s a safety check. The home delivered meal drivers provide much more than food. They provide peace of mind for many of our seniors and are often the first to identity and report changes in the consumer’s health or well-being.”

A large percentage of the meals are prepared daily in the kitchen at the Ocean County Southern Service Center in Stafford Township and delivered across the County.

In addition, the Board awarded a $1.4 million contract to Lakewood Community Service Corp. also for home delivered meals, congregate site meals for seniors and other senior programs.

“We anticipate that Lakewood Community Service Corp will provide more than 61,000 meals in 2025,” Crea said. “In addition we look forward to the opening of their new congregate meal site where it is anticipated more than 4,000 meals will be served to our seniors.”

Each of these contracts also provides services to seniors that include socialization and recreation programs, outreach, and caregiver support groups and counseling.

“We have more than 200,000 seniors living in Ocean County, more than any other County in New Jersey,” Crea said. “It’s a priority of the Board to provide services and programs for our seniors that will help them to continue to live independently and with a good quality of life. It is the least we can do for the generations that have done so much for us.”