Marble Falls VFW donation gives Meals on Wheels breathing room for Bertram deliveries

MARBLE FALLS — Members of the Marble Falls VFW Post 10376 called all the right numbers recently, and Meals On Wheels officials gladly shouted out, “Bingo.”

The post donated $1,000 to the Burnet County wing of the meal-delivery program. The money comes from the VFW’s three-times-a-week bingo games.

“Everything we make, after expenses, has to go to charity,” post commander Tom Standard said. “We thought this was a great cause.”

Sara Reily of the Burnet County Meals on Wheels program agreed.

“This is incredible,” she said. “It will keep us going (in Bertram) for another month. Right now, we have enough funding to get us through September.”

Reily said October starts a new fiscal year, so she hopes with budgetary adjustments that the Betram-area Meals on Wheels deliveries will continue. Earlier this year, Williamson-Burnet County Opportunities, the organization that funds the local Meals on Wheels, announced because of federal sequester cuts, it didn’t have the money to provide services to the Bertram area.

When word spread about the problem, several donations came in to help keep the Bertram deliveries rolling.

Lloyd Crippen, Post 10376 senior vice commander, felt the bingo funds could make a difference for the Meals on Wheels program.

“It’s a good program, and we wanted to help them out,” he said.

The Marble Falls post, 1001 Veterans Ave. across from Marble Falls Elementary School, holds bingo games Wednesday and Friday starting with a warm-up at 6 p.m. followed by the regular game at 7 p.m. as well as Sunday with a warm-up at 2 p.m. followed by the regular game at 3 p.m. The doors open an hour before the warm-up games.

The post has a full kitchen where patrons can purchase food and refreshments before playing.

For more information on helping the Meals on Wheels program, contact Reily at (512) 756-4334.

daniel@thepicayune.com