To-go senior meals now cost $14 each

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, May 4, 2022

ENTERPRISE — As the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, not everyone is benefitting; those who received free to-go meals from the senior centers in Enterprise and Wallowa are, as of Monday, May 2, being charged a suggested donation of $14 per meal.

“They were free, by donations,” said Danielle Brockamp, interim manager of the Enterprise-based Community Connection of Wallowa County. “There was a suggested donation of $4.”

But since the senior centers are no longer closed because of the pandemic, Community Connection has deemed it necessary to charge for the to-go meals, which it did not regularly provide before the pandemic.

“If someone wants a meal to go, they’re required (to) pay $14 now,” Brockamp said Friday, April 29.

She said the senior nutrition program’s goal under the Older Americans Act of 1965 is to see that seniors are well fed. But there’s another goal.

“It’s more than just for a meal. It’s for seniors to get out and have somewhere to go,” she said. “Now that COVID cases are declining … we want to get back to pre-COVID socialization.”

The senior meals are served Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting at 11:30 a.m. in Enterprise and at noon at the Wallowa Senior Center. Both places cease serving at 1 p.m., Brockamp said.

Community Connection started serving the to-go meals in late March 2020, just after the servings at the meal sites was shut down because of the pandemic.

Brockamp said from six to 12 to-go meals were served from the Enterprise meal site and 15-20 in Wallowa. About 20 people come into the Enterprise site, she said.

But without any subsidization to help pay for the meals and the cost of food rising, Brockamp said Community Connection needs to implement the charge. The same $14 donation is suggested regardless of the age of the recipient.

“The fully allocated price of a meal is more than we’re charging,” she said.