NEW ORLEANS — Renée Davenport, a 34-year employee with Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, has been promoted to director of the organization’s Food for Seniors program.
This program is the sole agency of Louisiana’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides a monthly box of nutritional foods to seniors who are 60 years old or older and meet federal income eligibility guidelines.
“I have a great desire to lift the least among us,” said Davenport in a press release announcing the promotion. “If I can help somebody as I travel along, you know my living shall not be in vain.”
Food for Seniors distributes food throughout Louisiana’s 64 parishes, with more than 40 sites in Orleans and Jefferson parish alone. With more than 400 volunteers spread out through the state, Food for Seniors provides food to one of the most vulnerable segments of the population for food insecurities. Over the past year, more than 51,000 people benefitted from Food for Seniors.
According to Feeding Louisiana, the state ranks second worst in the country for the number of seniors at risk of hunger, with 1-in-4 Louisiana seniors facing food insecurity. They are:
- 40% more likely to experience congestive heart failure
- 53% more likely to experience a heart attack
- 60% more likely to experience depression
- 2X more likely to develop asthma
