100 daily meals: Clark County, cannabis dispensary team up for seniors

Senior citizens and disabled residents at risk for the novel coronavirus will benefit from 100 free daily meals being prepared by a restaurant on the site of a Clark County cannabis dispensary.

In a partnership announced Friday between the county and Planet 13, which describes itself as the largest dispensary in the world, 100 meals each weekday will be delivered to aging and disabled clients enrolled in the county’s Homemaker Home Health Aide Program.

The meals will be delivered by home health aides who are contracted through private agencies to serve county clients and will pick up the meals from Planet 13’s on-site restaurant, Trece, county officials said.

“At the end of the day, society is judged by how it treats everybody,” county Commissioner Tick Segerblom said during a news conference to announce the program. “And in this, really, crisis time, it’s so important that we remember the people who are stuck home and have problems, need things.”

Bob Groesbeck, the co-CEO of Planet 13 and former Henderson mayor, said the goal is to eventually deliver as many as 150 meals each day and serve seniors and people with disabilities through at least April.

He said because both the dispensary and restaurant are able to maintain at least limited operations during sweeping statewide closures of nonessential businesses, they have been “more fortunate than most.”

“This is our city, this is our state, and we’re here for the long term, and we believe that we have a commitment to give back what we can and we made this choice,” he said.

The food will consist of hearty, balanced meals such as meatloaf, pasta salad, chicken pot pie and beef stew, according to Trece chef Manny Sanchez, with desserts including cheesecake and brownies.

“Eat the brownies slowly,” Segerblom joked.

There will be no cannabis in the food, officials confirmed.

Friday’s announcement comes on the heels of a similar county partnership with nonprofit and business sectors: Delivering With Dignity launched earlier this month to use volunteer drivers to escort meals prepared by restaurants to vulnerable families in the Las Vegas Valley.

The county Homemaker Health Aide Program currently serves about 500 clients, and there is a waiting list for more who meet income eligibility guidelines.

For more information about the program, call the county Social Service Department at 702-455-4270 or 702-455-5722 or email SeniorServices@ClarkCountyNV.gov.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.