Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Okanogan County to provide meals
From left to right, Cam Smith, Lanae Wiater, Mary Scharff, Georgia Smith and Cathy Plumb with a check for $1,500 from AgWest Farm Credit presented at the Davenport Senior Center Thursday, June 15.
DAVENPORT - Donations and updates continue to pour in for the local Senior Center, which temporarily closed in January due to a lack of funds and re-opened in mid-March. Several volunteers attended a city council meeting Wednesday, June 14 to provide such updates and request more funds from the city.
Christine Jenkins told council that the Senior Center is lined up to receive about $40,000 from the local Dept. of Health via the state Dept. of Health in exchange for the local department using the Center as an outreach point for COVID-19 vaccinations, test kits and disease education.
Lanae Wiater said those funds will be used to replenish the Center's depleted savings account. The board will also look at the building, 728 Morgan Street, and its most serious issues.
The Center also reached an agreement with Okanogan County Transportation and Nutrition to provide the meals, which will reduce the cost for senior meals from $7 to about $4-$4.50, Jenkins said.
To offset that cost, meals for non-seniors will be raised to $10, Lanae Wiater said. She later noted to The Record-Times that the Senior Center has received meals from Transportation and Nutrition in the past.
The Senior Center also received a $1,500 grant from Ritzville-based AgWest Farm Credit, which was presented Thursday, June 15. Mary Scharff wrote the referral for the grant.
"We ask that you consider standing behind these generous donors and give our seniors a chance to thrive," Jenkins asked council.
Wiater told council about eight to 10 seniors eat meals at the Center each day, with roughly five receiving at-home deliveries. Volunteers hope to get that number back near the 30-40 count in the Center's heyday, Wiater said.
Volunteers said they weren't looking for a specific dollar amount from the city but asked for donation consideration.
No action was taken by council, but Mayor Brad Sweet indicated a donation could be considered at a future meeting.
The city previously donated $10,000 to the Senior Center in late January following the Center's temporary closure.
Wiater also told council anyone over 40 years old can buy a $15 annual membership to help support the Senior Center. Members can rent the Senior Center building for $40, while that cost is $150 for non-members.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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