Senior meals available for dine-in or delivery across southeast Iowa

With colder weather settling in a warm meal is always welcomed. For the seniors of the community a variety of options exist to allow for a nutritious meal in a variety of circumstances.

In Henry and Jefferson Counties, the Milestones Area Agency on Aging offers both delivered meals and senior dining sites. Pam Taylor, Services Director for the Senior Nutrition Program, said the program has been around since the early 1970s when nutrition became part of the federal Older Americans Act, which provides a large sum of the funds needed to sustain the service.

She said the federal dollars are then directed to the area agencies on aging of which there are six in Iowa. Each agency has a set region it funds and the dollars are allocated based on a formula of how many are utilizing the service.

Taylor said as long as people continue to use the service it will continue but numbers can vary depending on how far the location is from other meal sites. In Mt. Pleasant, there is a meal served at Hy-Vee everyday. She said the food is cooked on site and served to seniors in the dining area of the grocery store.

There is also a senior dining site in Winfield, in the veterans building, and in Salem, at the community center. These meals are prepared in Wapello and driven over for the noon meal. In Jefferson County, meals are available at the Fairfield Senior Center.

Taylor said the only qualification for a meal, as outlined by the Older Americans Act, is that the consumer must be 60 years or older. The meals are served on a contribution basis and the participants are expected to pay what they can afford for the meal.

She said because the program is a federal program, this means consumers signed up can stop anywhere in the United States where a senior meal is being held and stop in for a bite. All meals are on a reservation basis, however, and most venues require a phone call ahead of time to allow staff time to prepare the meal.

For those who cannot get out of the home, delivery is available she said. The recipient must be 60 years or older. However, the spouse is also eligible for a meal and can be any age, she said.

A similar program takes place in Washington with Meals on Wheels. Chris Gaughan, the former director of the program, said it began nearly 20 years ago as a collaboration between the Washington County Health Center, the Washington YMCA and area churches. She said the hospital staff prepared the meals while the Y would set up routes, organize volunteers and deliver them.

The meals can be tailored to fit any dietary restriction or need. She said the meals are designed to assist patients who have just returned home from a hospital visit but can go to anyone regardless of age or income.

According to the Y website, the meals come at a cost of $3.50 per meal. Guaghn said it typically comes with a main course, vegetable, fruit, bread and butter and sometimes dessert or milk.

She said the numbers typically stay the same in the winter and do not see an increase due to weather. She said on average the program serves about 15 people daily, five times a week only in the city of Washington.

Taylor said the home delivered meals that Milestones offers are most heavily relied on in Fairfield with about 25 residents requesting them on average. She said in Salem there are just one or two but it all depends on the day.

As with all community organizations, Taylor said there is no way for them to function without the help of volunteers. She said specifically in Mt. Pleasant there are two routes. Volunteers meet at the dining location, load their cars and take off toward the senior in need.

She said the whole process takes about an hour a week and people do not need to sign up for every day. She said any little bit of time someone can offer will be used well.

'If we could have someone who said they could do it once a week we would be really, really happy,” she said.

Anyone wishing to volunteer or sign up for a meal can do so by calling: 855-410-6222. For more information on the Meals on Wheels program, call: 319-653-2141.