Link to article in The Monticello Times
One year ago this week, four Monticello restaurants entered a unique community service partnership aimed at providing economically priced senior meals.
The owners of the Monticello Corner Café, Chin Yuen, Monticello VFW Post 8731 and Cornerstone Café began working with Monticello Senior Center Director Pam Loidolt to replace meals that were lost when Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud closed its local dining site because of federal budget cuts.
The Monticello Senior Center is a community focal point, serving the needs of older adults, their families, and area residents interested in information about services for the elderly.
The center, located at 505 Walnut St., is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m.to 10:30 a.m.
The first meals under the new program were served June 3, 2014. Since that time, more than 3,000 meals have been served, Loidolt said, with an average daily dinner attendance of 16.57.
That figure is significant, because under the last year of the federally subsidized senior program, about a dozen people participated each day.
More than 300 individuals have dined at the Monticello Senior Center in the new program’s first year, and as a means of celebrating, Loidolt said the center has scheduled a Restaurant Appreciation Week.
“We invited the owners to come and dine with us the day their business provides the meal,” she said.
The center’s last day as a subsidized program was Dec. 31, 2013.
That action left the Monticello Senior Center in a lunchtime lurch the first part of 2014 because seniors had to look at other options.
It wasn’t long before Loidolt started looking for an alternative.
When the center lost the dining program, it also lost $4,000 in meal revenue.
Currently, federal funding allows diners 60 years of age or older to receive a meal on a contribution basis between $3.50 and $7. In 2014, seniors at the Monticello site had to start paying $7 per meal.
Those not able to pay, due to financial hardship, were directed to another senior dining site.
In a previously news release, Catholic Charities Community Services stated the Congressional Budget Sequestration that was enacted in 2013 reduced its funding to the point where the organization had to reduce the number of meals that were paid for with federal dollars.
Each year, people who use the Monticello senior dining program complete a form that asks them to report income levels.
“We didn’t have enough poverty people,” Loidolt said in a previous interview.
A year later, the level of senior satisfaction with the four restaurant community service partnership remains high.
Monticello Corner Café provides Tuesday meals, Chin Yuen provides Wednesday meals, Monticello VFW Post 8731 provides Thursday meals and Cornerstone Café provides Friday meals at the center.
“What’s surprised me the most is how easy it is to work with four different restaurants,” Loidolt said. “I thought it was going to be a horror story, because ideally, we wanted one or two. We ended up with four, and it’s been so incredibly easy. It’s low stress. It’s turned out way better than I thought it ever would.”
According to Loidolt, the increase in the average daily dinner attendance number is a true indicator of how many people are benefitting from the meals provided.
“Let’s face it, when these restaurant owners figure in their raw food cost and the staff time at $3.50 a meal, they are not making anything. They are doing it to be nice. Originally, I told them it would be 10 to 12 people a day, but we’ve been above that on many occasions. They are really happy about that,” she said.
Loidolt said the Monticello restaurant owners take a great deal of pride in the meals that are being provided. “When I call and say we have 25 people to feed on a particular day, they say, ‘We just love feeding the seniors.’ That’s what Ken Morse, the kitchen manager over at the Cornerstone Café, has told me many times.”
“We do this on a very discounted rate so the senior center can afford this,” said Cornerstone Café Owner Sue Swiecichowski. “We give them a menu a month in advance, and do something different every week.”
Swiecichowski said that she and the Cornerstone Café staff work to select meals with as much variety as possible.
“I think the seniors are so appreciative,” she said. “They come into our restaurant because of this program. They get to experience our food, and are thinking of us when the time comes to get breakfast or lunch outside of the program. When they come in, and if I’m in the dining room, they will stop me and say, ‘We had your meal at the senior last Friday, and it was wonderful.’ They will stop and make comments, and they will make comments on our Facebook page.”
Swiecichowski said initial program numbers surprised her. “The numbers in the beginning, were like 25 to 30 people. They have come down a little bit.”
Monticello Corner Café Owner Mike Carter said that many seniors are single and don’t want to cook. “This dining program gives them an opportunity to get a fairly balanced meal,” he said.
“Participating in this program shows respect and helps people out. It’s an opportunity for us to help provide a decent, hot meal.”
Chin Yuen provides Wednesday meals. In an email, owner Marianna Khauv stated she was impressed with the concept presented by Loidolt.
“Pam and her volunteers have done a great job in communicating and helping to deliver fresh hot meals back to the senior center every week,” Khauv wrote. “Their dedication is the key success to this program. Pam approached me with her idea to better serve seniors in our community. It was a great way to enhance seniors dining experience without the seniors actually having to travel to all the restaurants to do so. Chin Yuen truly appreciates the opportunity to be a part of this program.”
Monticello VFW Post 8731 Manager Mary Rogness said working with seniors is a normal part of the post’s business.
“They have their senior dances over here,” she said. “Pam contacted us and asked us if we would be willing to take on a meal a week at a minimal charge.”
Rogness said that the VFW went into the program offering its Wednesday special, “The Commerical,” a hot beef or hot turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy meal.
“We do a pork meal and baked chicken. This spring, we changed it up a little bit, because I felt that some of the participation had fallen off a little. We kept the hot beef and mashed potatoes and gravy with a vegetable, but with the turkey, we added stuffing and a roll instead of doing it as a sandwich and with the pork, we added garlic mashed potatoes, applesauce and a vegetable. We wanted to give the menu a little bit of a twist to keep things interesting even with an every fourth week rotation.”
One of the biggest concerns Loidolt had in relation to the dining program change was the potential loss of sociability. “I’m just glad we can provide healthy, tasty, delicious, and affordable meals for some of the men who come in,” she said. “Otherwise, they would be running out to get fast foods. It’s not healthy for them and this program gives them a place to talk to people and see what else we have going on here.”
According to Loidolt, when the meal program first started out, she was tallying booming numbers.
While the program numbers have leveled off, the Monticello Senior Center still has room for additional diners.
“The restaurant owners have been very open to higher numbers,” she said.
Loidolt said she shared the results of the restaurant community service partnership at a recent Minnesota Association of Senior Services conference meeting.
“This organization is made up of senior center directors from all over the state of Minnesota,” she said.
Additionally, the Central Minnesota Council on Aging has been inquiring about how the Monticello Senior Center got its program rolling.
“Other senior centers have contacted me and asked about the program,” Loidolt said.
According to Loidolt, there was no way the Monticello Senior Center could have hired a cook and started its own program.
“The key to success is getting the local restaurants on board,” she said. “The Monticello community has always been supportive of this type of effort. These businesses have really stepped up to the plate.”
Contact Tim Hennagir at tim.hennagir@ecm-inc.com
