“We like to make sure everyone is getting a good lunch,” said Jim Lopez, president of the Port Townsend Senior Association (PTSA). “I’m not sure what their nutrition is like outside of [what they get] here. And equally important to the nutrition is the social aspect.”

The PTSA is gearing up to start offering senior lunches five days a week, thanks to a new contract between the Olympic Area Agency on Aging (O3A) and the Coastal Community Action Program (CCAP) that will fund group meals. O3A and CCAP were recently able to purchase an industrial-size freezer. Aside from the logistical challenge of getting it into the center, the freezer is a boon, allowing CCAP to store the large amounts of food needed to feed the expected 25-plus seniors a day once the lunches start.

Up until last May, the center hosted one meal a week, which was provided by the Presbyterian church. “It was popular,” Lopez said. Even after the meal service ended, many local seniors have continued to bring their own sack lunches so they can socialize. After the meal, some stay for bingo. Lopez noted that many of them live alone and it’s important for them to have a chance to spend time with other people their age.

Ginny Adams, who serves on the advisory council for O3A, happened to stop by the center shortly after the meals stopped in May due to a lack of volunteers. She reached out to Janis Housden, Contracts and Program Manager at O3A, to find out whether O3A could help. Housden worked on finding a contractor who had the capacity to provide the meals, and CCAP stepped up. CCAP provides group meals in several locations throughout Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, and they were willing to expand into Jefferson County as well.

“We have served senior meals in our other five sites for many years now,” said John O’Lague, Social & Employment Services Program Director at CCAP, “and when this opportunity came up, I was quick to say yes. We see the value in this awesome program, as we understand that for some older adults, this could be their only access to a healthy home-cooked meal, but just as important, it is a way for older adults to meet older adults.”

“I think it’s huge,” Adams said of the planned meal site. “Not everybody is wealthy,” she added, noting that 47 percent of the population in Port Townsend is over age 60. “There’s definitely a need.”

O’Lague said they are in the process of hiring a cook. “We have been screening applications to find the right person to fill this vital position,” he said, noting that the opening is posted on Indeed, WorkSource, Craigslist, and CCAP’s website, www.coastalcap.org. “We’re looking for someone that is not just a good cook, but someone that is also kind, humble, passionate, detail oriented, and caring.”

The meal schedule will be posted on the PTSA website at www.ptseniors.com when available.