Kosher food will be provided to elderly Jews under Federal auspices for the first time when the Bratemas-Pepper-Kennedy bill, which has been approved by both House and Senate, is signed by President Nixon, according to the Office for the Aging of New York City.
The bill provides for expenditure of $10 million in fiscal 1972 and $13 million in 1973 to provide nutritious meals for the elderly in New York State. Half of that sum is expected to go to New York City, according to Mrs. Alice Brophy, director of the city Office for the Aging. She pointed out, however, that an appropriations bill must still be approved and the actual funding may fall below the totals specified in the federal legislation. The measure is now on President Nixon’s desk for signature.
The funds will be allocated by the New York State Office for the Aging to public and private agencies, which will handle the actual feeding of elderly. The law provides that consideration is to be given to the “religious needs of clients.” Mrs. Brophy said this was understood to mean kosher food for elderly Jews who request it.
She said her office had called together representatives of various groups to examine the implications of the bill, which provides for a total national allocation of $100 million for 1972 and $150 million for 1973 and that the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies had been invited and had sent representatives, including representation for the Jewish Services for the Aged.
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