Lane Council of Governments gets $10,000 grant for rural senior meals sites

Seniors in Florence, Oakridge, Veneta, Cottage Grove, Creswell and Junction City could see a more reliable hot meal and a little less isolation after Lane Council of Governments received a $10,000 grant to support its rural Café 60 dining sites. The money is aimed at locations outside Eugene and Springfield, where distance, transportation costs and limited transit can make it harder for older adults to get to a meal and stay connected.

LCOG announced the grant for its Senior Meals Program, which operates nine Café 60 dining rooms across Lane County and also delivers Meals on Wheels. The network includes Eugene, Coburg, Cottage Grove, Creswell, Florence, Junction City, Oakridge, Springfield and Veneta. LCOG says the program serves adults age 60 and older and their spouses, regardless of income, and reaches about 1,500 older adults a year with more than 130,000 meals.

The dining sites are meant to do more than put food on a tray. LCOG describes Café 60 as a place where older adults can gather for a meal, socialize, get a safety check and connect with other aging services. The program also offers nutrition education and information about supportive services, part of a broader effort to help seniors maintain independence even when mobility, income or family help is limited.

Stephanie Sheelar, LCOG’s deputy director for Senior & Disability Services, said the grant would have a significant impact for rural consumers and thanked The Roundhouse Foundation for recognizing the importance of congregate meal sites. Rebeckah Berry, the foundation’s grant program director, praised the work the Area Agency on Aging does for older adults in their communities.

The timing matters in a county where the senior dining system has been rebuilding access. Springfield’s Café 60 reopened on Jan. 22, 2024, and Florence’s dine-in location had been on hiatus for three years while still offering grab-and-go meals. A relatively small grant can help cover the practical costs of keeping those rural sites open, from meal service support to the day-to-day work that makes it possible for older adults to eat together instead of eating alone.

The need fits the federal Older Americans Act nutrition program, which is designed to reduce hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition while also increasing socialization, education and access to supportive services. For Lane County’s far-flung senior centers, that means the value of the grant is measured not only in meals served, but in missed trips avoided, conversations preserved and connections that can keep older residents in their own communities longer.