On Thursday, August 24 we held our immensely popular annual talent competition, Senior Idol, at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center. This year's competition boasted fifteen phenomenal acts, one exceptional emcee, four judges and two generous sponsors. Performers and audience members alike enjoyed a talent-filled afternoon; the dining-room-turned-performance-hall was standing room only.
The Intuit company band welcomed audience members with a delightful collection of 50s and 60s-era chart-topping songs as they entered the dining room and made their way to seats. The band was so lively and talented that while we waited for the official program to begin, some of our seniors started dancing! Maybe every talent show should start with an impromptu dance party — it certainly put everyone in the mood to enjoy the show and support the performers.
Queen Johnson, a member of Serving Seniors' Civic Engagement Committee, emceed the event and shared fun facts and tidbits about each contestant before they showed off their talents. The senior contestants dazzled us with their singing and musical talents, made us laugh with their comedy, inspired us with their art and moved us with their poetry.
Jose G. took home first place with his rousing performance of a "La Bamba"/"Twist and Shout" medley. The Serving Seniors Singers took home second place for their musical contribution while Julia M. and Candelario O. took home third and fourth place, respectively.
Darwin C. kicked off the event with a comedy routine à la Rodney Dangerfield, then Elizabeth "Lisa" V. played a Beethoven piece on the piano. Bob B., Ines N., Beatrice T., Candelario "Candy" O., Steve T., Avelina G., Larry L., Jose G. and the Serving Seniors Singers all performed songs. Donna Jean J., Julia M. and Patricia A. each read pieces of poetry and Dan O. painted (while dancing!) to music.
Recent confusion around the Trump Administration's proposed budget cuts has many Americans in a panic. The Administration issued some budget-related statements that lacked detail, causing misunderstandings nationwide.
Meals on Wheels, which is not a federal program, was specifically called out in budget director Mick Mulvaney's March speech, where he stated, "We can't spend money on programs just because they sound good and great, Meals on Wheels sounds great." Lacking clarity, and delivered all in a single breath, the statement seemed to imply that while Meals on Wheels "sounds great," it's not worthy of continued federal funding. While Mulvaney later clarified, during a May speech, that Meals on Wheels and other senior nutrition programs would not be specifically targeted for budget cuts, it was too little too late. The panic had already taken hold.
Essentially, Trump's proposed budget eliminates $3 billion from the Community Development Block Grant program, from which community-development and anti-poverty-focused organizations, like Serving Seniors, receive federal funding. If federal funding for the Community Development Block Grant program or the Department of Health and Human Services is reduced or eliminated, countless organizations will be affected, Serving Seniors included.
We provide nearly 600,000 meals to more than 800 seniors at 9 congregate locations every year. We deliver daily meals to more than 500 home-bound seniors on eleven routes across San Diego county. What will we tell those hungry seniors if we don't receive the federal funding we need to continue feeding them?
The public demand for senior nutrition programs is most important than ever before. It's increasingly clear that even "flat" federal funding isn't good enough. Keeping our senior citizens healthy, independent and active by providing them with regular, nutritious meals is a small step in the right direction, and something that we can act upon now.
In California alone 1,000 people turn 65 years old every day, and nearly half of them are reduced to living in poverty. By the year 2030, the United States will be home to 92 million seniors, meaning that a full 25% of the population will be aged 60 or older, with longer life expectancies than ever before. Quite simply, the infrastructure needed on national, state, county and city levels does not exist to support this.
Advocating for federal support that will keep our seniors healthy and fed is the reason Serving Seniors recently participated in the #SaveLunch campaign, along with National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP) and Meals on Wheels America. We want to send a message to Members of Congress before the September 30 decision deadline, encouraging them to fund congregate and home-delivered meal programs at the levels required for their continued operation.
It makes good fiscal sense to fund congregate and home-delivered meal programs: it costs taxpayers less money to feed a senior for a year than it costs to treat that same senior for one day in a hospital or ten days in a nursing home. Healthy people use fewer expensive, publicly-funded resources, including ERs, paramedic services and long-term care facilities.
As part of the advocacy campaign, we had our senior clients write messages about the importance of accessible meals on paper plates. We took photos and shared them online, with the hashtag #SaveLunch, to generate visibility as part of the campaign. Then we delivered the paper plates we collected, nearly 400 of them, to Congressman Scott Peters and Congresswoman Susan Davis and encouraged them to ask other Members of Congress to continue funding and support for congregate and home-delivered meal programs.
It is our hope that by showing our government representatives how deeply we care about feeding and nourishing our low-income seniors, and how much these seniors rely on congregate and home-delivered meal programs, we can send a strong message that will help us achieve the levels of support we need to sustain these lifesaving programs.
Add your voice to the cause: take a photo of your empty lunch plate and share it on your social media accounts with the hashtag #SaveLunch. Then contact your representatives and let them know that feeding our senior citizens matters to all Americans.
Help us create an inclusive, welcoming environment where impoverished seniors can get the help they need to live with pride and dignity, free of fear and stigmatization.