Lewis County Seniors Executive Director Glenda Forga signed a contract with the county on Tuesday for a grant of up to $40,000 for the purchase of two vans to help with the delivery of meals to seniors.
The Board of County Commissioners will vote on the allocation of up to $40,000 from the Coronavirus Relief funds to the Lewis County Senior Center at their 10 a.m. board meeting on Monday, Sept. 28.
Lewis County Seniors provide the county commissioners with a monthly update on their operations which have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lewis County Senior centers closed on March 13 and staff started delivering meals to senior’s homes. Forga said that purchasing food, paying employees and delivering meals have tripled the organization’s operating costs.
When the senior centers were open about 3,000 meals were served county-wide each month. Now, that number has skyrocketed to an average of 14,000 meals a month. Forga said that in May alone about 22,000 meals were delivered.
“When COVID hit, a lot of people that are not regular clients of ours started signing up saying that they didn’t realize they could’ve been getting meals at the senior center when it was open… believe it or not a lot of people think the senior center is more like a nursing home,” Forga said.
The organization is a non-profit that is funded through various sources including the county, Lewis-Mason-Thurston-Area Agency on Aging, and by cities in the county that are served by the senior centers. To help make up for the increased operating costs, Lewis County Seniors was able to secure a Paycheck Protection Program from the federal government and received assistance from donors in the community and United Way of Lewis County.
The meals are free to Lewis County citizens that are ages 60 and older. The center is asking for donations from seniors for the meals to help cover expenses and the raised about $79,000 to put back toward the meal delivery.
The senior center owns two vans and is currently leasing another two from Twin Transit. Forga said they are looking to end the lease agreement with the purchase of two vans using the grant funding.
Forga said that the vans will be able to be used even after the senior center reopens when the county enters Phase 4.
Lewis County seniors interested in signing up to receive meals from Lewis County Seniors can call 360-748-0061.
