Meal program wont forget pet

liver411

Meal program won't forget pet



By Sandra Mathers | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted December 13, 2001



Rosemary Gorisek sits wrapped in a thick bathrobe even though it's warm in her tiny apartment. She looks drawn and pale. That's what hepatitis C does to you, she says.



"It's chronic; there is no treatment," said Gorisek, 67, a former Arthur Murray dance instructor in New York City who was diagnosed with the disease six years ago.



Today, the disabled Orlando woman and her only companion, a large gray cat named T.T. II, live on Social Security and little else. They used to share everything, including food.



But now they don't have to share anymore. Meals on Wheels of Orange County is delivering food to her. And T.T. II gets a monthly supply of cat food from a new Meals spin-off, Chow on Wheels -- Central Florida's only home-delivered meal program for pets.



The program was launched last month by Seniors First, which operates Meals on Wheels in Orange; the Central Florida chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; and Tupperware, along with a $5,000 seed grant from the Winter Park Health Foundation. Already, Chow on Wheels is serving more than 60 households in Orange County. The only program similar to it in Florida operates in Broward County.



The number served was expected to increase to more than 100 within a few weeks, said Seniors First spokeswoman Sheri McInvale.



"Our Meals volunteers were finding out some of our home-bound seniors were feeding part of their meals to their pets," McInvale said. "They couldn't afford the pet food."



Dry pet food may not be steak, but it's not cheap for limited-income seniors or for Chow on Wheels.



"It's like inviting 100 extra people to dinner," said SPCA Director Barbara Wetzler, whose agency is charged with rustling up the dry pet food.



Wetzler said she is searching for a permanent corporate sponsor for the pet food, but in the meantime she's looking for interim donations from companies or individuals to defray the cost. Last month, the SPCA pulled 1,000 pounds of food costing about $700 from shelter supplies for Chow on Wheels, she said.



"That would cost us thousands a year," she said.



The pet food -- delivered monthly in large, airtight Tupperware containers -- also is generating a new group of volunteers, from civic clubs to law firms. About 30 people are needed to make monthly deliveries, McInvale said.



Eventually, the program could be expanded to Seminole, where that county's Humane Society recently merged with the Orlando Humane Society to form the SPCA of Central Florida, and to Osceola County, where the Humane Society is considering joining the SPCA, Wetzler said.



"There really is a big need," she said. "Some seniors have had to turn in their pets because they couldn't feed them. We need to keep animals out of shelters, and Seniors First needs better-fed seniors."



Sandra Mathers can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5507.





Copyright ?2001, Orlando Sentinel