PEORIA, Ill. — United States Representative Darin LaHood (IL-18) was in Peoria Tuesday to tour the Meals on Wheels facility that provides meals to people that are unable to prepare their own meal.
Neighborhood House Development Director Brent Oest said they are delivering 750 meals per day, a number that was around 1100 meals per day at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The folks that work here at Meals on Wheels do a tremendous job for our community in terms of feeding Tazewell County and Peoria County,” said LaHood. “During the pandemic, it’s more important than ever — they’ve almost doubled their capacity over the last year.”
Federal money has been received by the program in the last year through the five separate bills passed during the pandemic.
Some money in COVID-19 relief bills went to the Department of Aging, which then filtered down to programs like Meals on Wheels.
“Being here today really highlights the need to continue to support this program and the need for volunteers,” said LaHood. “Programs like this that help people at a grassroots level are super important as we get through the pandemic.”
LaHood also spoke about the COVID-19 vaccination rate in Illinois and the United States.
“The federal government obviously has an obligation to continue to produce the vaccine and get it distributed across the country,” said LaHood. “It’s the best thing we can do to get the economy back on track, get our kids back in school, get our businesses opened back up.”
LaHood praised Operation Warp Speed, saying it deserves a lot of credit for producing a COVID-19 vaccine so quickly before also praising the Biden Administration.
“The number one thing that [the Biden Administration] is responsible for is getting the vaccine out — I think they’re doing a good job with that,” said LaHood. “The more we can get the vaccine produced and get itdistributed in an efficient, effective way the better.”
As of Tuesday evening, nearly 17% of Illinoisans were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including more than 70% of those 65 and older with at least one dose.
