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Senior News January, 2005 Vol. 26. No. 1
Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.
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Humboldt Senior Resource Center Back issues Table of Contents
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Dime a Day Club Is there such a thing as a free lunch? by Joy Ehlert Countless times every month I hear people talking about the "free" lunches served at the dining centers and for those on home-delivered meals. But are the lunches free? The Nutrition Program gets very few things for free. This means that providing lunches for seniors comes with a cost. There are always expenses to be paid - unavoidable expenses like the cost of the food, containers to carry the food, fuel and tires for the trucks to deliver the food, insurance and employees. We do get some federal and state funding from the Older Americans Act and the Nutrition Services Incentive Program (USDA), but that money was never meant to fully fund nutrition programs. Each program has always had to raise about half of the money needed each year. One of the many ways we do this is to request donations from the people who use the Nutrition Program services, request support from the community and seek grants. Government funds have not risen to meet increased costs and there is more competition every year for grant funds. The government has always expected that seniors who eat in the dining centers and who receive home-delivered meals would donate some money to help cover the cost of their meals. It was not expected that seniors could or should pay the full cost, but pay a share. We have always left the amount of each person's donation up to them. Through the years we have watched the levels of personal meal donations decrease and wonder if you know how important your contribution is to the Nutrition Program. We count on donations to help us continue serving your community. Won't you help? It would be so easy to do. Just add one more dime a day to your donation for a whole year for all 365 days. Join our "Dime-A-Day Club." For those already donating toward the cost of their meals this would only mean another 70 cents a week or just an additional $36.50 a year. For those who have felt they could never afford a donation at all, doesn't 70 cents a week or $36.50 a year sound manageable? What a deal. We do all the shopping, chopping, cooking and washing of pans and dishes. We serve more than 500 meals per day. If only 200 people increased their donations by a dime a day then the Nutrition Program would see our donation income rise by $7,300. This would help pay the costs for more than 1,400 meals. You may drop your dimes in the piggy banks at the dining centers, give them to your meal drivers or donate for the year by mailing a Dime-A-Day check to the Senior Nutrition Program, 1910 California St., Eureka, CA 95501. Joy Ehlert, R. D., is director of the HSRC Senior Nutrition Program. |
Senior News