More than just a meal

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It was a beautiful sunny day outside, but inside the La Center Community Center, a group of seniors gathered to enjoy lunch and listen to a little live music, courtesy of the Fargher Lake Boys, a Clark County musical trio.

This is the other, lighthearted side of Meals on Wheels, a program mostly known for providing home-delivered frozen meals to house-bound seniors.

This Meals on Wheels is all about fun, friendship and three-course luncheons.

“I come for the friendship and fellowship,” says Peggy Slagle, a La Center resident who has been coming to the Monday and Thursday community center luncheons for more than four years.

“That’s why I’m here,” added Phyllis Garza, also of La Center. “To mingle with my peers.”

Garza has been coming to the Meals on Wheels luncheon for about 12 years, and says she enjoys seeing familiar faces and talking to her friends in the community.

Sharma Schlecht is a satellite manager for the regional Meals on Wheels program, which serves 34 senior centers throughout Clark, Multnomah and Washington counties. Schlecht is in charge of operations at three Clark County Meals on Wheels sites, including La Center, Ridgefield and Amboy.

She says the seniors (anyone older than 60 is welcome) who come to the weekly and – depending on where you live – twice-weekly luncheons support one another and love to socialize during the lunch hour.

“A lot of them came here as strangers, but have become friends. They support each other. If one of them is in need, people here know about it and help out,” Schlecht says. “They’re good about not coming in if they’re sick, so they won’t get their friends sick … and they come back every week. We get about 20 to 25 people each week at the various sites. Thursday is popular in La Center.”

As it stands now, Meals on Wheels serves a hot, three-course luncheon on Mondays and Thursdays in La Center, on Tuesdays in Ridgefield, on Wednesdays in Amboy and Monday through Friday in Battle Ground. However, the local luncheon schedule is set to change soon.

“We don’t have as many people come to the Monday lunch in La Center, so we’re going to be going to just Thursdays here,” Schlecht says. “We’ll add Monday to the Amboy center, so they’ll have lunches on Mondays and Wednesdays soon. I’ve been told that the soonest this will happen is April.”

Many of the local Meals on Wheels luncheon sites serve up more than just a hot meal – especially the Battle Ground site, which is larger than all of the others and has the capacity for other senior-related activities like Bingo and fitness classes.

For instance, on a recent Thursday, the La Center Community Center was rocking with the old-time, folksy sounds of the Fargher Lake Boys, a Clark County trio comprised of Brian Elias on mandolin, Jay Hancock on guitar and Dick Pedersen on the stand-up bass. The trio often plays to senior center crowds and tries to hit the Meals on Wheels luncheons at least once a week on a rotating schedule. For instance, the group plays the La Center luncheon on the second Thursday of the month and the Battle Ground luncheon on the last Friday of the month.

“We play a lot of social events and parties,” Hancock says. “And we come out to the senior centers.”



The luncheons are a hit with area seniors, and they help honor the the mission of Meals on Wheels: “To enrich the lives of seniors and assist them in maintaining independence by making nutritious food, social contacts and other resources available.”

In addition to anyone 60 and older who needs their services, the regional Meals on Wheels program also serves disabled people and other “nutritionally at-risk populations.”

Every two weeks, a driver from one of Schlecht’s service areas delivers 14 frozen meals, as well as fresh fruit, milk and rolls (and even pet food for individuals who have dogs and/or cats) to local housebound seniors and other at-risk individuals.

Schlecht says income doesn’t matter for the home deliveries. “They can be a billionaire, but if they need us, we will deliver. Income makes no difference.”

Donations are optional and the program can even provide weekend and holiday meals to people who have no other means of getting food during those times.

Aside from providing sustenance, the “meals on wheels” home deliveries also help keep tabs on local seniors, who are often in need of a stronger support system. For instance, Schlecht says, Meals on Wheels volunteers in La Center once alerted authorities that a local senior was missing. They have also made sure that frail seniors are being taken care of by their providers and that they’re not in need of medical attention or other help.

“They are really doing more of a well check for some of our seniors,” Schlecht says of her all-volunteer staff.

The addition of the pet food deliveries, made possible thanks to generous donations from Banfield Pet Hospital, really helps, Schlecht says.

“Some of our seniors will feed their pets before they’ll feed themselves,” she says. “Their pets are their companions, they’re like family. So if they need pet food, we can bring that, too. Banfield has been really incredible providing this service.”

Volunteers are always appreciated, and Schlecht is currently looking for a volunteer driver for the Ridgefield route. The volunteer would be taking on an obligation of delivering meals once every two weeks for a handful of people.

Schlecht could also use a back-up driver for the Amboy route, which covers an enormous area. The current Amboy driver is great and has been a part of the program for many years, Schlecht says, but she would love to have a backup in case her main driver needs to take a vacation or gets ill. If you can fill either the main Ridgefield driver position or the back-up Amboy driver position, call Schlecht at (360) 607-7486 or email her at sharma.schlecht@mealsonwheelspeople.org.

To qualify for the “meals on wheels” deliveries, an individual must be a senior living in Clark, Multnomah or Washington counties. The suggested donation is $3 per meal, but donations are optional.

Meals on Wheels volunteers pass a rigorous background check and receive training before they are able to deliver the meals to seniors’ homes. If you would like to inquire about having meals delivered to your home, please call the main Meals on Wheels People office, toll-free, at (866) 788-6325 or fill out the program’s online form at www.mealsonwheelspeople.org.