Volunteers will be delivering over 180 Christmas Day meals Wednesday to homebound sixty and older residents across Jasper County.

Jasper County Elderly Nutrition provides the meals through a longstanding agreement with MercyOne Newton Medical Center. The local hospital actually makes the food and Jasper County Elderly Nutrition pays them $8.00 per meal. The sign up deadline was December 16th. 

Jasper County Elderly Nutrition Program Director Kelli Van Manen says 186 meals were ordered. That’s up from the 127 that were delivered last year.  

The home-delivered meals are also available to Jasper County’s elderly on Thanksgiving. Van Manen says 153 of those meals were distributed this year.

Jasper County Elderly Nutrition will be closed Tuesday, December 24th, Wednesday, December 25th, and Wednesday, January 1st. Extra food will be sent out today and Tuesday, December 31st.