VFW Post 12055 donates $10,000 to Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee

Obviously, it gets more expensive for Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee to feed the hungry each year.

That hasn't gone unnoticed by U.S. Air Force veteran Lee Waters.

Waters donated $10,000 through Braden River VFW Post 12055 toward the Meals on Wheels Plus effort in Manatee County. On March 19, a check was presented to Amy Towery, vice president of development at Meals on Wheels Plus, at the East Manatee Fire Rescue Station No. 1.

“That’ll get two meals right?” Waters asked when Towery accepted the check.

“It’ll be a lot more than two meals,” Towery said. “Thank you so much for this generous gift and for your service to our country.”

VFW Post 12055 Commander Dave Daily thanked Towery for the work done in the community by Meals on Wheels Plus.

"You do so much, including for the veterans in this post," Daily said. "You do a fantastic job."

Waters said he had sold his Mill Creek home and moved to a retirement home in west Bradenton, so he thought he could "make the world a little bit better by donating" to Meals on Wheels Plus.

Towery said the donation is another example of the remarkable generosity of people in the area.

“These types of large gifts, a $10,000 gift, can go so far in feeding people in our community,” Towery said.” And all our programs focus around nutrition.”

Towery noted that such donations can help not only the home-delivered meals to seniors and others in need but also the other programs that run under Meals On Wheels' umbrella, including The Food Bank of Manatee, the Daybreak Adult Day Center in Lakewood Ranch, and Friendship Dining Centers.

She said The Food Bank of Manatee is the largest hunger relief organization in Manatee County, and it serves more than 100 food pantries in the area. Daybreak Adult Day Center provides seniors who can't be left alone unsupervised a fun setting that allows their caretakers to work or to just have a break.

“There's a lot of social activities and fellowship," Towery said. "Things that keep people engaged, which is really important as we age.”

“We saw, especially coming out of COVID, that so many people had been isolated because of the global pandemic,” Towery said. “People were so excited to just come back together, to see their friends, to have a chance to get out.”

Waters said that instead of doing a direct donation himself, he wanted VFW Post 12055 to get recognition for all its good work in the community. 

VFW Post 12055 consists of 137 members and the post meets on the third Wednesday of each month at East Manatee Fire Rescue Station No. 1.

The post tries to findi ways to help veterans in need in the community. 

”That's what we do," Daily said. "We get out in our community and support these people.”

Among the VFW supported programs are scholarships for JROTC students at Lakewood Ranch and Braden River high schools.

“We're like a family here at our post, and the members are extremely tight,” Daily said.