Participants enjoy a walk through the fields of Greenbank Farm during the Meals on Wheels Walkathon and fundraiser. PHOTO GALLERY

Participants enjoy a walk through the fields of Greenbank Farm during the Meals on Wheels Walkathon and fundraiser. PHOTO GALLERY

Walking for Meals on Wheels on Whidbey Island

GREENBANK — A walk in the rain actually added a bit to the camaraderie of a fundraiser.

“We sort of bonded together,” said Susan Perry, of Langley.

“We were supporting something that we believe it. It was great. It was a good day.”

The event, held May 21 at Greenbank Farm, was organized to raise money for Island County’s Meals on Wheels program.

Despite the rainy weather, there were 126 participants, with $5,020 raised for the program. “It was great fun despite getting pretty soaked,” said Debbie Metz, nutrition program director for Senior Services of Island County.

The Meals on Wheels program serves about 450 people in a geographic area that takes in both Whidbey and Camano islands.

“It is difficult,” Metz said. “We’re so far apart, but we’re serving both.”

The program also offers food program at spots such as low-income senior housing and other places where seniors gather to eat.

“There’s a lot of other benefits other than receiving a meal,” Metz said. “It’s more the social contact.”

In-home deliveries are made three times a week with hot food. Frozen meals are provided so that older adults and the disabled get seven meals a week.

The program has 135 volunteers who deliver the meals and also check in with those they serve. “It’s kind of a safety net,” Metz said.

Fundraisers are needed to sustain the program because federal money has remained mostly stagnant for years, Metz said.

“A lot of people think the meals programs are fully funded,” she said. “We ask for donation so we can serve low-income people.”

Perry said her own mother benefited from a Meals on Wheels program in West Seattle. “The fact we had Meals on Wheels was great,” she said.

Photo gallery

Donate

Donations to the Meals on Wheels programs are still being accepted and may be made online or by mailing a check to:

Senior Services of Island County

14594 State Route 525

Langley, WA 98260

For more information about the program in Island County, call Debbie Metz at 360-321-1600; on Camano Island, call Nancy Martineau at 360-387-0222.

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