Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new program Friday to feed seniors and keep restaurants running by funding meals and delivery through a new grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The program will be run by county and local municipalities, but the state will pay 75% of the cost of the meals per person, each day—$16 for breakfasts, $17 for lunches and up to $28 for dinners.

The meals will be provided for seniors for free, but there will be eligibility requirements: Seniors must be at high risk for exposure to COVID-19, and must fall below certain income thresholds.

The state will also be putting out nutritional guidelines for the meals, and local authorities will determine eligibility and which restaurants will participate.

“We want to make sure we are focused on locally produced produce,” Newsom said. “We want to connect our farms to this effort. We want to focus our values throughout the state of California to get a lot of independent restaurants up and running again as well, and have a diversity of options. And make sure what we are sending to our seniors is low sodium, not high fructose drinks or sugary drinks and the like, so there’s guidelines that we’re putting out and we’re just very excited about this partnership.”

The governor also noted that in addition to providing business for restaurants that have been forced to dramatically scale back operations, the costs of meals will also generate tax revenue for local governments.

“Now we have the ability to have a locally driven decision-making to start employing workers and get these restaurants reopened and provide hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of prepared meals every day delivered to our seniors throughout the state of California,” he said.

Seniors wondering whether they are eligible should call their local 211 information line, or visit covid19.ca.gov/.

Seniors over 65 have been asked to isolate since March 15. An estimated 1.2 million seniors in California live alone, the governor said.

“It’s not just about meals,” Newsom said, “it’s about a human connection.”

Long Beach is one of the few cities in the United States participating in a World Central Kitchen program that achieves the same goal: Restaurants prepare and serve meals to those in need. so far The Ordinaire and Lola’s Mexican Cuisine are providing 1,000 meals to seniors across the Long Beach region.

Newsom also announced other partnerships to prevent seniors from loneliness during this time: Operators with United Airlines, along with about 900 members of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), will be manning a “friendship line” for seniors to call just to talk, vent, share thoughts or “get something off your chest,” the governor said.

The phone number for the line is 888-670-1360.

How Long Beach is one of a few cities developing World Central Kitchen’s new feeding program