EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The El Paso County Community Services Department is celebrating half a century of providing some of the Borderland’s oldest residents with healthy meals, through a partnership that began with two congregate sites in 1974.

What began as two churches in the El Paso area — Sacred Heart and St. Alban’s — serving noontime meals to El Pasoans 60 years and older, has since grown into a county-wide initiative encompassing 16 sites throughout El Paso, Socorro, San Elizario and the Town of Clint.

Today, the program is funded in part by the Rio Grande Area Agency on Aging and the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

However, it goes well beyond simply providing meals, and now ensures community activities, and wellness and safety checks for the elderly throughout 16 different congregate sites.

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In a statement, El Paso County said that these efforts would not be possible without the program’s dedicated staff and numerous volunteers who organize approximately 12,057 congregate meals and roughly 39,000 monthly home deliveries every month.

Throughout February, the County will host celebrations at each of its 16 congregate sites in recognition of the milestone.

For more information on the program, or how you can become a volunteer, please call (915) 546-8167.

For a full list of sites, click here.

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