There’s no such thing as a free lunch

OLYMPIA, Wash.—It’s Monday morning, a few hours before lunch, and the Olympia Senior Center kitchen is silent. There are no cooks, no sound of clanging pans and no meals being packaged to be shipped and served to seniors across Thurston and Mason Counties.

Under a sign reading “Welcome! Today’s lunch,” hangs a poster explaining there will be no lunch.

Senior Services for South Sound has stopped serving meals on Mondays at the Community Dining Site in Olympia after a grant from the Community Investment Partnership came in $25,000 lower than originally requested. Senior Services is now turning to the community in hopes that people will donate to help reopen the dining center and restore other services.

The organization also stopped taking most applicants for the Meals on Wheels program as of July 9 due to increased demand, instead putting those who request the service on a waiting list. About nine people are on the list.