Meals on Wheels panic: Give 'em hell, but do it with the facts

No, the president's proposed budget would not kill Meals on Wheels.

You've probably read headlines and social media posts in the past couple of days that said otherwise, and you may have joined the outraged wail.

There was the headline on the Occupy Democrats website: "Trump Just Announced Plan To End Funding For 'Meals On Wheels' For Seniors." The story described it as "a popular program facing elimination."

Several prominent websites, including msn.com, ran the headline: "Trump's Budget Would Kill a Program That Feeds 2.4 Million Senior Citizens."

Kill. Feeds. Seniors. Those are potent words.

What decent person would allow the elderly to starve? What kind of devil would demand it? What good citizen wouldn't post news of the atrocity on Facebook, ASAP?

But the claim doesn't quite add up.

[Does Trump's budget gut Meals on Wheels? His budget director says no]

There are plenty of reasons to fear and protest the president's proposed budget. The plan is likely to hurt the young, the old, the poor, the sick, the arts, the lakes, the air, the rivers, every region and everybody but the zillionaires and drone makers. But there's no evidence it's going to kill Meals on Wheels.

And yet Meals on Wheels quickly became the rallying point in the protest against the budget's sweeping awfulness.

Why?

For starters, there are those overblown headlines and stories, like the one from the Dallas TV station that reported Meals on Wheels would lose "all of its federal funding."

That's false. At the same time, the truth is complicated.

True: The proposed budget would eliminate a federal block grant program that provides money to states. That's the budget cut that stirred up the storm. A small percentage of the program's money goes to Meals on Wheels.

Also true: The network of local Meals on Wheels providers gets most of its federal money — 35 percent of its budget — from a different program. The program also is targeted for Trump's cuts, but it's not going away.

Also true: Meals on Wheels gets significant money from sources outside the federal government. Losing a portion of its federal funds would be a heavy blow, but that's not the same as being killed.

I oppose almost everything this president stands for, and I, too, was startled by the Meals on Wheels death alarm when I first heard it. Thinking I might write a column about it, I went searching for verification.

Hmm. The New York Times hadn't reported it in such stark terms. Snopes, the fact-checking website, rated the claim as a mix of true and false.

And the widespread claim that the White House budget director said Meals on Wheels was "just not showing results"? After watching the video of the press briefing, I agree with the Washington Post's fact checker who wrote, "it appears his comments have been misinterpreted."

But the early, hyped headlines made instant believers out of many people, and Meals on Wheels — a worthy cause with a pithy name — made easy shorthand for the broader cruelties of the new budget.

As the dismay built — Meals on Wheels is axed! — we saw heartrending photos of the frail elderly sitting with meal trays. We saw photos of other senior citizens delivering their lunches and dinners. Stories were traded of what Meals on Wheels means to so many of us.

And that's another reason Meals on Wheels has taken on such symbolic power: Here's a cause millions of us can connect with. Not everyone would empathize with the homeless, but the recipients of Meals on Wheels? They look like our parents and grandparents. They are our parents and grandparents.

In my social media feeds, I heard tales of the program's great volunteers and appreciative recipients. I was going to add my story, how in the final weeks of the life of an old woman I loved, the highlight of her day was the 11 a.m. arrival of the Meals on Wheelsman. She perked up when she saw his van pull into the driveway, and though the food wasn't great, it was warm, and the deliveryman's daily appearance was a bright spot in her dimming world.

I still want to tell that story. It's a reminder that there are people who need our collective help, that Meals on Wheels is one of the services that provides it. The need for it is growing. I'd hate to see it take a big hit.

But when we protest, we're more effective when we're clear on what we're talking about. Good intentions don't validate bad information.

There is, however, some good to come from the confusion.

Donations to Meals on Wheels and volunteer sign-ups are reported to be surging.

Mary Schmich is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Email, mschmich@tribune.com. Twitter.com/maryschmich; facebook.com/maryschmich.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com.