COLUMBUS, Ohio — LifeCare Alliance and AEP Ohio are partnering to provide food for those who lost power during last week's outages across central Ohio.
Starting on June 27, the nonprofit will provide replacement meals for those who lost food due to the power outages.
To qualify, people can apply online at their website here.
Once someone enters their information, they can select AEP Food Replacement Program from the list of LifeCare Alliance programs. After completing the application, they will be notified by customer service about how and when to collect their food, according to the organization.
Any family is allowed to sign up for the program and they can receive 10 meals for each person in the household.
Through their Meals-on-Wheels program, the organization has already replaced many frozen meals for clients across central Ohio. The nonprofit said AEP Ohio paid for the cost of the meals, which was about $20,000. Another $230,000 was given to LifeCare Alliance to help with food replacement and bill assistance.
Chuck Gehring, the organization's president and CEO, said they were called upon to provide and replace meals for not just their clients, but also for nursing homes across the area.
"Regardless of whether we were able to be reimbursed for these meals, we jumped in and did what was necessary to serve the community,” says Gehring. “So this gift from AEP is essential in empowering us to continue this service," Gehring said.
AEP Ohio recently distributed $1 million to four local agencies to help those impacted by the outages. The energy company also made $2.7 million available to those who qualify through its Neighbor to Neighbor program. You can learn more about that here.