Meals on Wheels important in keeping senior citizens independent, healthy

Related story: Fountain of youth? It's staying active and involved, say Cache seniors

By Sarah West

December 13, 2005 | Cache County senior citizens aren't just playing golf and knitting doilies, as they're often portrayed. Instead, with the help of senior citizen centers and Cache County, they have the option to participate in educational and fun activities and receive the proper nutrition, all of which benefit their health.

"You think they [seniors] just sit in chairs, but they giggle and laugh," Kristine Johnson, director of the Hyrum Senior Citizen Center, said. The majority of those who come to the center are from Hyrum and the south end of the valley. But she said, "We've been picking up people from all over the valley."

Johnson said the center is funded by Hyrum city, and the center makes up the difference with fund-raisers. Johnson said one of their annual fund-raisers is a bazaar where homemade goods, such as quilts, are sold and then a dinner is provided.

Cache County Executive Lynn Lemon says the only senior center that the county funds is the Logan Senior Citizen Center, even though he said they've talked about providing some funding for Hyrum. But he said some of the senior centers don't want to be under the federal regulations, which exempts them from receiving the federal money.

Lemon said if they funded all of the senior centers in the county there wouldn't be enough money to go around. "We determined it would spread the funding so thin, that we wouldn't be able to do that.

Even though the county only funds one senior center, Lemon said they provide the Meals on Wheels program, which distributes one meal a day to seniors throughout the entire county.

Meals on Wheels program director Kris Albretsen, said, on average, the program serves 180 seniors per day in Cache County. "It just helps them maintain their independence in their own home, and it also gets someone in the house checking on them on a regular basis."

Lemon said "Meals on Wheels is for people that literally can't get out, and we 're worried about their nutrition." He said they'd prefer seniors eat well, rather than go to live in a senior living center.

"Poor nutrition leads to medical problems," he said. "When they're alone, they don't really eat properly."

Lemon said the county's total nutrition budget for this year is $321,000. He said of that money, some goes to the employees who prepare the food for salary and benefits, and some goes for the transportation. He said they're hoping for $125,000 in donations to cover some of that $321,000. He said the county would like people to give donations for the food they receive, but it isn't required.

By socializing and being involved, Johnson said seniors' health is better. "If they come out and participate they stay healthier," she said.

The Hyrum Senior Citizen Center serves lunch Monday through Friday at noon. She said seniors who want to come eat lunch need to call by 10 a.m. the day they'd like to eat lunch and the center asks for a $2 donation. The center also provides many activities seniors can participate in, such as field trips, billiards, quilting, bingo and a cooking class. Johnson said they also have foot and blood pressure clinics and a walking and weight loss program.

Blaine Johnson said his favorite part about coming to the Hyrum Senior Center is "being able to come over and shoot pool five days a week."

The Logan Senior Citizen Center is also doing it's part in helping seniors. Lemon said, "We provide a program for seniors, which has grown quite a bit, helping them get acquainted with the Internet." He also said the center is involved heavily in assisting them as they choose a Medicare prescription drug program.

Seniors aren't just being helped with nutrition and being given opportunities for recreation, but the county is also helping them with their heating issues this winter. Lemon said if seniors have a wood burning stove as their only heat source, on red burn days, they can get a special permit from the health department to burn their wood stoves for heat.

Also, for those seniors with low or fixed incomes, Lemon said they can apply for heat assistance through the Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG), which is a 3-county association for Box Elder, Rich and Cache counties. He also said, "It's not only available to seniors, but anyone with low or fixed incomes."

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