(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowa nonprofits are facing a financial crunch as they run out of state and federal pandemic relief funds, which is a concern for Iowa seniors who rely on meal deliveries. The Northeast Iowa Agency on Aging’s nutrition budget has been cut nearly in half since its COVID assistance ran dry. That means a reduction in daily hot meal deliveries for 18 counties. Agency C-E-O Mike Donohue says state legislative funding just isn’t keeping pace with the cost of meals.

“We have seen those costs just go through the roof,” Donohue says. “We had per-meal costs that were in the $6 range prior to the pandemic that today are $10.” Donohue’s agency does get state money to operate but he says that funding isn’t keeping up with the cost of inflation.

“Overall, funding really hasn’t changed much,” he says. “I think if you look over the past five years, funding has grown about six percent total.” The agency plans to continue to make meal deliveries to about 500 area seniors, though as of last week, those deliveries started coming in bulk, every two weeks, instead of every day.