Feasting in leaner times

In a makeshift cafeteria in the heart of the city, Rita Seaman fondly recalled Thanksgivings past: The turkeys. The pies. The throngs of family members who filled her home. “All my brothers are gone; all my sisters are gone,” said Seaman, a 92-year-old widow. “But I’m going to be around for a lot more.”

Seaman was one of hundreds of elderly residents served by Spokane County’s Meals on Wheels programs on Thanksgiving Day. The two agencies – one located downtown and the other in Spokane Valley – served 200,000 meals last year to seniors living at home.

But both agencies, which rely on a network of hundreds of volunteer drivers, suffered significant cuts in state and local funding this year. The downtown office has lost $20,000 in funding in the past three years, according to Rachelle Solomon, executive assistant for Meals on Wheels.

The agency has cut back on its hours and its paid positions, but has managed to continue delivering about 300 meals a day, Solomon said.

“We’ll cut costs within ourselves before we make cuts out in the community,” Solomon said. “Our staff knows they are here for a reason. It’s not just a job to them.”

Rising gasoline prices have pinched volunteer drivers, about 85 percent of whom are retired and live on a fixed income. At the same time, many elderly residents are struggling to pay monthly bills – leading to a drop in client contributions. The program accepts donations from its clients but does not require them to pay, Solomon said.

“Honestly, the electricity is going up, their medications are up – those are things they have to pay,” Solomon said. “They just send in what they can afford, whether it’s $3 or $20.”

For some elderly residents, the programs offer a chance to spend Thanksgiving with others. Nanette Bagley of Post Falls recently suffered a stroke and a broken hip and couldn’t bear the thought of a Thanksgiving with just her cat. Volunteer Janie DeLauri drove her to Coeur d’Alene for the annual meal at the Lake City Senior Center.

“This is great, a lovely service,” Bagley said as she walked into the center. “It’s just nice getting out with other people. I haven’t gotten out in three weeks.”

In the Spokane Valley, volunteers delivered Thanksgiving meals to more than 100 people living alone, as well as food to seven retirement homes.

“Most of these people don’t have family in town, or it’s too difficult for them to leave their homes,” said Pam Almeida, executive director of Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels.

Almeida said her agency hopes to raise $36,000 by the end of the year, but said fund-raising has been tepid this fall, as people instead sent money to disaster relief along the Gulf Coast.

“People with a generous heart are willing to give, but they are only able to give so much,” Almeida said.

Almeida said she learned her agency will lose a $10,000 grant next year from the Spokane Regional Health District. That’s enough money to provide about 3,200 meals, she said. Almeida said the agency will do everything it can to prevent a decrease in the number of meals served.

Recent county data found that 650 households in Spokane County have seniors with limited mobility. Almeida said her agency serves about 200 people in a day.

“There are so many more people who need help, and we aren’t reaching them,” Almeida said. “Despite any cuts, we want to be here for them. We’re not going under.”

At Thursday’s meal at the downtown center, Seaman sat with her friends, Shari LaCaze, a 71-year-old with emphysema, and 85-year-old Bill Radtke, who volunteers as a bingo caller.

“The company is wonderful,” Seaman said. “The friendships are so important.”