By Ginger Broomes

The Orange Leader

 

Linda Hughes with Meals on Wheels asked Orange County Commissioners Court to increase the county’s annual donation. The non-profit organization delivers meals free of charge to the elderly and disabled relying solely on donations and grants from the county and the state.

Having already struggled pre-Harvey, they lost displaced employees and 15 of their delivery vehicles during the storm. Anyone interested in donating money for meals or volunteering their time to deliver meals should contact Linda at Meals on Wheels at 409-886-2186.

Mark Hammer, director of the Orange County Veteran’s Service office, reported to the Court that for the period from April to June of this year his office had 147 clients including walk ins and appointments, and fielded 992 phone calls.

“VA is expanding exponentially right now, and going through a lot of rapid changes,” Hammer said. “Vets can now file claims, medical benefits, pensions –all online now.”

“With new programs that Congress is passing, claims are faster, and new grant programs have helped tremendously. There are a lot of new programs out of the Beaumont outpatient clinic,” Hammer added. “There are social workers in the outpatient clinic that help with in-home care, and in six more months they’ll have a program where psychiatrists will make house calls.”

Any veteran wanting to know if they’re eligible for one of these programs can either call the Veteran’s Service office in Orange at 745-1535 or the Beaumont VA Outpatient Clinic at 981-8550.

In other county business, Karen Fisher, Tax Assessor-Collector stated that there was $2,371,572 in property taxes collected in Orange County in June 2018, with $324,619 being the county portion, and funds in the amount of $412,327.92 were credited to the General Operating Fund, representing the half-cent Sales and Use tax for the month of May.