Demand for this program increased sharply as coronavirus kept Whatcom seniors at home
More senior citizens in Whatcom County have turned to a meals program during the pandemic as they stay home to protect themselves from serious illness or death should they be stricken with COVID-19.
The food comes to them through Meals on Wheels and More, a program of the nonprofit Whatcom Council on Aging, which delivers nutritious meals to seniors in Whatcom County.
Meal recipients include 71-year-old Bellingham resident Howard Yanke — pronounced “just like the ball club,” he said — who has a hot and fresh lunch delivered to him five days a week along with two frozen meals for the weekend.
Yanke said he has conditions — including being elderly, overweight and having had heart surgery — that place him at risk if he contracts the virus from someone else.
“It’s really in my best interest to not be out and about,” he said, adding that while getting COVID-19 might make a teenager or young adult feel poorly for a couple of days, it might put him in the hospital.
“There’s a good chance I wouldn’t leave,” Yanke said.
He is among the Whatcom County residents behind a jump in senior nutrition needs caused by the pandemic, which is forcing the elderly to stay away from others when possible as they are the group that’s most vulnerable to the disease. The vast majority of people who have died as a result of the coronavirus in Whatcom County so far — at least 49 out of 51 deaths — were age 60 and older, according to preliminary public health data on Thursday, Nov. 5.
In 2019, Meals on Wheels and More delivered 99,600 meals to homebound seniors 60 years and older. This year, it’s on track to deliver 144,000 — an increase of about 45%.
The number of seniors receiving those meals has climbed from 395 in January to 539 in April and is now hovering around 500, according to Julie Meyers, director of Meals on Wheels and More.
The pandemic has changed what the program offers in other ways.
After senior centers in Whatcom County were closed in March to reduce the spread of COVID-19 — cutting off the daily community meals and socializing that older residents like Yanke enjoyed there — Meals on Wheels and More pivoted to making to-go meals starting in mid-March.
These days, its cooks in Bellingham and Point Roberts put together about 2,000 fresh and frozen meals a week for roughly 350 seniors, who can pick them up at a number of senior centers in the county as well as the East Whatcom Regional Resource Center.
It’s on pace to provide more than 95,000 senior community meals and to-go meals in Whatcom County this year — a 23% increase from the 77,500 community meals served in 2019, according to Meyers.
“Our goal is to make sure people who need the program get fed and don’t fall through the cracks,” Meyers said to The Bellingham Herald.
The need is expected to continue — and likely grow — leaving program organizers here and across the U.S. concerned about being able to continue to meet it without an additional influx of federal coronavirus relief dollars.
Meals on Wheels programs nationwide are delivering 77% more meals to 47% more seniors, according to the national organization.
An Aug. 12 survey from Meals on Wheels America found that 64% of programs were concerned about their ability to sustain operations without continued emergency support, said Jenny Young, vice president of communications for the national organization.
New spikes of illness across the U.S. and a “not-so-optimistic outlook for the winter” mean the concern is growing, Young said.
“Older adults will remain high-risk until the virus is eradicated, so we expect the increased need for home-delivered meals to continue,” Young said to The Herald.
Negotiations over a new federal relief package have stalled because of the election, but Young hopes senior nutrition needs will be addressed.
“No matter the election results, we must continue our call to Congress to come to an agreement on a coronavirus aid package that provides much-needed relief to Meals on Wheels programs,” Young said.
Filling a gap
To help others, Meals on Wheels and More relies on a combination of staff and volunteers, including for deliveries.
That’s been a challenge because many of the volunteer drivers are themselves seniors so the program temporarily lost a few volunteers at the start of the pandemic but gained others, according to Meyers.
Mary Solum, a 73-year-old Bellingham resident, is among those delivering meals — both the fresh, daily kind and the frozen ones.
Her delivery route is in Bellingham.
“I think it’s a very good service. I’m retired. I have time,” said Solum, who’s been delivering meals for about 10 years.
These past few months, she and others have been delivering food while wearing gloves and masks and with social distancing.
They chitchat — about their lives, medical conditions, their pets — briefly, if the person getting the food wants to, before Solum heads out for her next stop.
“People really appreciate it,” Solum said. “It’s nice to be appreciated.”
Bellingham resident Barbara Bavins, 91, began getting meals delivered to her a couple of years ago, when she stopped driving because of vision problems.
She gets four frozen meals, which she orders off a menu from a small company south of Seattle called Airline Catering, delivered to her each week by Meals on Wheels.
“It’s nice to have things I can choose from,” Bavins said, adding that the food was nutritious and the smaller portions were right for her.
Bavins likes knowing she has a meal she can reach for on days she doesn’t feel like cooking.
Yanke said he wouldn’t eat as well if not for Meals on Wheels and More.
“It meets a need and it fills a gap,” he said.
That has Meyers looking toward 2021, wondering how to continue paying for the service if the demand stays steady.
The program receives federal funding, which provides about a third of its budget, as well as some state and local dollars.
When the pandemic hit and demand increased starting in March, the program received an outpouring of financial support from the public and other organizations as well as CARES Act dollars through the city of Bellingham and Whatcom County.
“We’re so fortunate that the community was so generous,” Meyers said.
Still, a chunk of its budget comes through fundraising, donations and other grants and, like other nonprofits, it doesn’t expect the same level of support to pour in as it did in the spring. Now, it’s looking for new ways to raise money at a time when such efforts have shifted online because of social distancing.
“Nobody’s going to get kicked off our program,” Meyers said of seniors now getting their meals through the program.
But there may be a delay in its ability to take on new clients in 2021.
To help
Meals on Wheels and More provides meals to older residents in Whatcom and San Juan counties.
They are provided on a donation-only basis to adults age 60 and older. There are no limitations based on income. Getting service is based on age and physical need, meaning can someone meet their nutritional needs on their own.
The program seeks volunteers, including drivers, and donations.
Details are at whatcomcoa.org or call 360-746-6480.
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
