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San Diego Nonprofit Feeds Growing Number Of Seniors

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer serves meals to seniors at the Serving Seniors event celebrating the 10 millionth meal, Nov. 9, 2015.
Christopher Maue
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer serves meals to seniors at the Serving Seniors event celebrating the 10 millionth meal, Nov. 9, 2015.

Among hundreds of senior citizens at a local nonprofit that feeds impoverished seniors, Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Monday served the organization’s 10 millionth meal.

The event also served to raise awareness of the growing number of elderly facing poverty in San Diego.

Serving Seniors, a 45-year-old nonprofit, offers 2,300 meals daily to local seniors. It also offers wellness services for physical and mental health. Two out of five local senior citizens fall far below the income level for self-sufficiency, according to the organization.

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Serving Seniors President Paul Downey said there will be even more hungry seniors as the population ages.

"The challenge going forward is demographics," Downey said. "In San Diego and in this country, we are going to double the number of seniors over the next 15 years. In fact, in the United States, it's going to be close to 92 million people. So the challenge for us is to maintain the level of meals and the quality of what we are doing and all of the wraparound services to keep people independent."

The only way to meet the challenge is with more government funding and private philanthropy, Downey said.