Recently I became a volunteer at the City of Enumclaw Senior Center. As I’ve become more involved, I’m amazed at how much activity there is at this little place. Emphasis on little.

In addition to serving a hot meal on location every day, daily meals are prepared separately by RFWF volunteers and delivered to 47 seniors who are housebound.

There is a wait list for this service, but with limited space for cooking in the tiny kitchen the cooks are at capacity. The delivered meals provide not just nutritious food, but also a friendly greeting and few minutes chat for someone who likely has not seen another person all day. Food for the heart as well as the body.

In addition to meals, each day of the week the center is packed with health-related services, social activities, educational classes, exercise classes and transportation if needed. I am a licensed mental health counselor and I volunteer my services at the center to work with a greatly underserved portion of the population. Medicare does not easily cover counseling, and wait lists for appointments for approved therapists are usually months out. The senior center provides an easily accessible location for seniors and I could easily fill a full day with appointments, but for lack of space – there literally is no room unless another important activity or service is cut.

I hope you will consider supporting the effort to build a new senior center. The current space is simply not adequate to offer the growing elderly population in our community a place where they can not only socialize and eat a nutritious meal, but receive educational and health benefits without cost.

Susan Thode

Enumclaw