Tulsa Area Non-Profit 'Modus Delivers' Helping Seniors Get Fresh Groceries

A new program is helping provide fresh groceries to seniors delivered to their doorstep.

 Modus Delivers launched at the beginning of the month.

"So, we haven't seen anything else like this in Tulsa,” said Modus Executive Director Leslie Neal-Emery.

 Modus is a non-profit that helps people with transportation like getting to medical or social appointments. Now, thanks to a grant from the Tulsa area United Way, they're adding a service.

"Modus Delivers is really trying to address the food deserts in Tulsa,” Neal-Emery said.

Neal-Emery says about 80 percent of Tulsa seniors are homebound, and many lack access to fresh groceries or money to buy them.

 That's where Modus Delivers comes in. People sign up through Life Senior Services based on their needs. A Life Senior Services representative says around 55 people are signed up so far and they hope to double that number since the demand for this need is high.

Organization leaders say grocery delivery is one of the main things people call about. Catholic Charities provides the groceries and Modus drivers deliver them to each person without a cost. Neal-Emery says the items include fresh produce and dry goods each bag includes a week's worth of food.

"They may be able to cook, and they want to preserve their dignity and cook for their neighbor or cook for their grandchildren. So, it's not that they can't get up and cook in the kitchen, but they just have trouble getting to those grocery stores or maybe paying for those groceries,” Neal-Emery said.

The groceries are delivered on Saturday mornings, but Neal-Emery says they hope to expand the service soon. She says she's already seen the impact.

"The first couple days that we did this, a few of our participants cried because they hadn't been able to feed their grandchildren with fresh groceries in a while,” Neal-Emery said.

You can find more information here: Modus I Volunteer