Signs of the generation gap...

Ithaca may be the upstate oasis for young workers in the region, but the nonprofit Foodnet Meals on Wheels still finds it difficult to attract and retain workers under the age of 30.

With many students seeking high salaries and debt relief after graduation, the nonprofit sector isn't usually the first place they look to get their feet wet in the economy. Last spring, the Meals on Wheels Association of America conducted a survey that found 38 percent of Meals on Wheels programs did not have any employees under the age of 30. On average, most programs had a total of only one employee under the age of 30.

This comes at a time when the country is beginning to face the retirement of the baby boomers, a development that promises to transform both the workforce and the nature of the work itself. These trends mean that senior nutrition programs such as Meals on Wheels are facing a rapidly growing population of people likely to need service. Nationwide, 4 out of 10 programs report having waiting lists for nutrition services, and the demand is increasing.

With that in mind, Ithaca's Foodnet Meals on Wheels held a "Tomorrows Leaders" workshop last week at its headquarters on Triphammer Road - trying to recruit students from Ithaca College to join theirs and other programs that deal with senior nutrition. A contingent of gerontology professionals and Meals on Wheels representatives joined a small handful of Ithaca College students in touring Foodnet's operations and discussing the various opportunities available to students of nutrition and gerontology.

"Sometimes senior hunger is overlooked, and people don't think about it as much, but it's out there, and it's only increasing," says Marley Sweeney, Outreach Manager for the Meals on Wheels Association of America. "So many students really don't know about senior hunger. When I graduated from college I had no idea that there was such a need for this, and that seniors were out there going hungry. It's just that there are so many causes [like aids, breast cancer, and disaster relief], and students seem to really focus on those things, and those are important, but so is senior hunger."

In addition to familiarizing the students with the ins and outs of running a program such as Foodnet, the staff gave testimonials to the merits of working to serve the special-needs community. Steffanie McKay, a junior health sciences major with a concentration in nutrition, says she was impressed by what the Meals on Wheels staff had to say, and that the workshop reaffirmed that she wanted to help the elderly population with managing their nutritional needs.

"Before coming to the workshop, I only had a vague idea of what [Foodnet Meals on Wheels] did," says McKay. "I now have a greater understanding of all that goes on and how beneficial and important they are to the community. It's a unique atmosphere [at Foodnet] that helps the community in many ways, much more than just providing food."

Read the entire article on the Ithaca Times