Sequim Gazette staff

A recent donation by Home Instead Senior Care Foundation is helping Sequim Senior Meals, a new organization, fight hunger among Sequim seniors.

Starting Jan. 1, 2013, anyone over 60 can receive hot, nutritiously balanced meals on Monday and Friday nights and holidays at Suncrest Village Retirement Apartments, 251 S. Fifth Ave. A voluntary donation of $4 is suggested.

(Sequim Senior Nutrition Site dinners are served at Suncrest as well on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; suggested donation is $5. RSVP 24 hours in advance to 683-8491 for both programs.)

Organizers with Sequim Senior Meals say the $6,000 grant helps pay for about half of the year’s 64 total meals. It comes at a critical point after OlyCAP, provider of the congregate Senior Nutrition Program in Sequim, cut back from five nights to three a week in August 2011.

A group of about 30 concerned citizens met with the organizers and formed Sequim Senior Meals one year later to find resources to fill the financial gap.

So far, the new program has partnered with the Sequim Food Bank and Trinity United Methodist Church to seek funds and resources.

Rochelle McHugh, co-chairman of Sequim Senior Meals, said their goal is to develop an ongoing base of giving.

“This is a benefit to both individuals and our community as a whole since regular nutritious meals help prevent declines in overall health, reduces seniors’ susceptibility to illness, enables them to continue managing chronic illnesses and enhance Sequim seniors’ ability to remain at home and independent in our community,” she said.

Sequim Senior Meals is one of 23 organizations in the U.S. and Canada awarded a grant from The Home Instead Senior Care Foundation this year. Visit www.homeinsteadseniorcarefoundation.org.

To contact and/or donate to Sequim Senior Meals, send mail to Sequim Senior Meals, P.O. Box 878, Sequim, WA 98382.