By Justin Andress, The Mountain Times
Five days a week, dozens of elderly Mt. Hood residents rely on Hoodland’s Meals on Wheels program for a nutritious meal and much-needed human interaction. Those goals are increasingly important during the holiday season as the volunteers and staff at Hoodland Senior Center work to deliver high spirits and good food to those in need.
Carianne Stearns has been Director of the Hoodland Senior Center for nearly a year, an experience she describes as a “whirlwind.” Along with Assistant Director Leita Bibler-Thomas, she orchestrates an ever-expanding list of activities and services to keep the mountain’s senior citizens comfortable and happy.
Those services include daily exercise classes, guest speakers, trips to the doctor, help paying bills, and outings to local hot spots. The Hoodland Senior Center’s most significant undertaking, however, is Meals on Wheels, a program that feeds needy seniors from Alder Creek to Government Camp.
Most Americans likely know about Meals on Wheels. The charitable organization has been feeding American senior citizens since 1954. Today, the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) is the nation’s oldest and largest organization of its kind. That level of prestige might lead one to believe that the Welches branch of Meals on Wheels operates with a nearly limitless budget.
That is far from the case.
Hoodland’s Meals on Wheels receives zero funding from the national organization. Instead, it relies on a small government subsidy and local fundraising to cover its costs.
“We get reimbursements each month through the county,” says Stearns. “But it doesn’t cover the cost of the whole program.”
In fact, it doesn’t even come close. Local donations make up a whopping 25 percent of the Meals on Wheels budget, making volunteer and fundraising efforts critical to the program.
Says Stearns, “We’re here doing our thing with a little bit of county funds and whatever we can scrape together from community fundraising and the generous donors from the local area.”
On average, Meals on Wheels has about $5 a day to spend on each resident in need. That minute budget doesn’t stop Stearns, Bibler-Thomas, and their volunteers from going the extra mile. Whereas many Meals on Wheels providers tend to stick strictly to frozen meals, the Hoodland Senior Center has partnered with local businesses on Mt. Hood to create a one-of-a-kind experience for the people it serves.
Mt. Hood Village Market pitches in to hand out sack lunches to eager seniors. Twice a week, Busy Bee Catering’s Jan Ostrom and her staff prepare fresh meals. Ostrom regularly spends more than the $5 allotted to make the meal.
“It gives them more variety and more wholesome meals than they would otherwise receive,” says Ostrom. “It’s important. You shouldn’t have to get to that age in life and not have anything to eat.”
The Hoodland Senior Center likes to kick things up a notch when the holidays roll around. The daily meal budget doesn’t increase, but the efforts certainly do. As Stearns explains, “We like to send out a special meal [for the holidays], something that’s different from the normal weekly meals.”
The team at Hoodland Senior Center also includes seasonal surprises for program participants.For Halloween, they send out bags of sweet treats (nothing too sugary). The Trillium Trails
Garden Club sends out a seasonal plant in the winter. The Hoodland Library provides greeting card kits for visitors to fill out so Meals on Wheels drivers can deliver them to program participants.
For Stearns and her volunteers, these added flourishes are integral to the program. Meals on Wheels is about more than delivering food; it’s about ensuring that the most fragile members of the Mt. Hood community receive care and attention.
“Social isolation is a big thing up here,” says Stearns. “Each day, we go and knock on their door, hand them their meal, see how they’re doing. Sometimes, that’s the only person they’ll interact with all day.”
Stearns is hesitant to take credit for any of her work. Instead, She’s quick to praise the
volunteers surrounding her. “Without our volunteers, we couldn’t serve the community.”
Volunteers fill a wide variety of roles at the Senior Center and, by extension, Meals on Wheels. They answer phones, transport seniors to doctor’s appointments, deliver meals, and even sort bottles and cans to generate extra cash for the program.
Stearns and her crew continue to keep an eye on those who frequently go unnoticed during the holiday season. As the weather gets colder and the mountain becomes more isolated, the benefits of those efforts are immeasurable.
The Meals on Wheels program is always looking for community members to donate time or money. To get involved, contact the Hoodland Community Center or visit HoodlandSeniorCenter.org.