‘Dine In for Seniors’ aids Meals on Wheels

Molly Dalpae’s latest brainstorm came to her in the shower one morning.

“I get some of my best ideas there,” said the executive director of the Mid-City Concerns Senior Center and Meals on Wheels programs. “I thought we needed a fundraiser that made sense with what we do on a daily basis.”

When you’re trying to help more than 400 seniors remain in their homes as long as they can and half of your $360,000 budget is dependent on fundraisers and private grants, you have to get pretty creative with fund-raising ideas, she said.

The idea was “Dine in for Seniors,” in which the Meals on Wheels volunteers would deliver lunches to individuals at businesses, with proceeds benefiting the Meals on Wheels clients. The meals – either a chicken Caesar wrap or a veggie sandwich, fruit, chips, a cookie and bottled water – cost $12 apiece, and each lunch delivered would pay for four meals for program clients.

Volunteers delivered more than 260 of these lunches on June 29.

“We eat lunch anyway,” said Nicole Tedrow, an attorney with Associated Industries at 920 N. Washington St. “This was a good way to eat lunch together and support a worthwhile organization.”

The first Dine in for Seniors was in May and netted $6,000. Two more are planned.

The Mid-City Concerns Senior Center serves breakfast and lunch to about 100 seniors five days a week at its downtown location at 1222 W. Second Ave., where a number of other activities are also provided.

Meals on Wheels delivers hot lunches Monday through Friday to more than 300 housebound seniors and disabled individuals throughout the city of Spokane and provides two frozen meals to help them get through the weekend. Some clients are able to pay for a portion of the meals; some aren’t. Dalpae runs the entire operation with seven part-time staffers and about 800 volunteers from corporations, retired individuals, college students and others.

“Our whole purpose is to help seniors remain safely in their homes as long as they can,” she said. “Our volunteers not only deliver meals, but act as gatekeepers, ensuring that our seniors remain warm in the winter, cool in the summer, that the lights work and on occasion, call 911 when necessary.”

Dalpae said they are continuing to innovate in seeking financial support, as the need continues to rise. Walk-in clientele has increased 50 percent in the past year. Meals on Wheels deliveries are up 20 percent.