Anonymous donation restores Spokane County senior meals program

By JOHN McCALLUM

Editor

The Spokane Regional Health District announced last Friday that senior meals services that had been cut in October, including some services to the Cheney Care Center, are being restored.

Thanks to some stopgap funding and cooperation between Spokane’s Mid-City Concerns, community agencies and the regional health district’s Senior Nutrition Program (SNP), all local senior centers’ noon meal offerings have been returned to full service. Mid-City Concerns has offered to help pay the cost of meals served in the area’s senior centers, giving SNP enough money to support the sites that serve the meals and provide social activities for seniors.

Meal services were reduced due to a reduction in federal funds that helped support SNP. Cheney Care Center director Keith Fauerso said the reduction hit locally around mid-October, and resulted in two days during the week when the center’s meal services were without funding.

Fauerso said local donations help Cheney’s program as well, and rather than reduce meal opportunities, the center covered the service out of its own resources.

“We just decided that we would cover the shortfall ourselves,” he said. “It didn’t impact us as greatly as other senior centers in Spokane.”

The senior meals program lost some of its funding due to a trickle down effect. Federal budget cuts to ALT-Q, Aging and Long-term Care of Eastern Washington, meant that organization had to make cuts to such program’s as the Spokane Regional Health District’s SNP.

Health district spokesperson Julie Graham said the cuts left the SNP with a $22,000 deficit. An anonymous individual heard of the reductions, and sent a matching donation to Mid-City Concerns to cover the deficit and restore the program to full strength, thinking Mid-City served all of the senior center sites included under SNP.

Mid-City Concerns actually serves senior centers around downtown Spokane, but when they learned of the donor’s intentions, they contacted the health district.

“When Mid-City found out the donor wanted to serve all the sites, they re-allocated the donation,” Graham said.

Besides providing nutrition to residents, meals also are an opportunity for other seniors living in the community to engage in a variety of social activities, as well as an important connection to community services that can help them continue to live independently.

The reduction in funding meant the Deer Park senior center could only offer senior noon meals three days out of five. SNP program manager Lynne Quimby said the program helps cover two days out of five for Spokane centers, and the loss of funding meant those facilities had to cover the extra three days out of their own pocket.

“We are very grateful to Mid-City Concerns and to the generosity of anonymous donor,” Quimby, said in a health district press release.

SNP is the “umbrella” organization that contracts with several area community partners, providing federal funds to help support congregate senior noon meals and home-delivered meals, also known as “meals-on-wheels.”

Senior noon meals are held Monday through Friday at the Cheney Care Center, and feature a buffet-style hot meal with a salad bar. The meals are open to any senior in the community, and all that is required is a 24-hour notice to attend.

“Any senior is welcome to come,” Fauerso said.

The center also provides meals-on-wheels to any senior on the West Plains. To make arrangements, Fauerso asked seniors contact Eileen Romer at 235-6196. The Cheney Care Center is located at 2219 N. Sixth St., across the street from the Golden Hills development.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected]