The Stanfield Community Center plans to create an outdoor eating area and is seeking volunteers to help with a fence-building project July 10-12, 2025, at the center at 225 W. Roosevelt Ave., Stanfield. (Hermiston Herald/Archive)

STANFIELD — A popular lunch program for seniors in Stanfield will hiccup a bit come July 1.

The date marks the start of the next fiscal year, which will mean the city’s community center will have to become more creative to pay the salaries for two cooks who prepare the senior meals on Wednesdays.

“The funding has been cut for senior meal programs,” said Marcia Flemmer, a board member and fundraiser for the community center. “Stanfield is fortunate to have been able to receive a lot of funds from Community Action Program of East Central Oregon, and the funds are drying up so there just isn’t enough to cover all the senior meals. But we were getting a really good break that other places weren’t. That’s what kept our program going.”

The Stanfield Community Center Board of Directors petitioned the city council on April 16, full of confidence the city could fund the senior meal program.

“We feel that paying for the cooks’ payroll will be an issue for us. We are hoping the city will consider funding the 15 hours per week for cooks,” the letter said.

CAPECO previously funded the cost of the cooks’ salaries.

The funding that CAPECO provides Stanfield from state and federal sources is actually being bumped up from the anticipated $15,556 next year to $22,208, but all costs keep going up, especially the price for food.

“The extra money is because they provide so much per person,” Flemmer said. “You have to do paperwork to show you feed this amount of people and then the following year they give you so much money per person that you fed.”

Flemmer has been a fundraiser for the community center for one year but she has 15 years of experience prior to that.

The community center is anticipating another $20,000 from Walmart and the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation.

The letter containing the pitch to the city council to help with the cooks’ salaries said the community center provides meals to 70 persons, combined from Stanfield and local communities.

“We don’t serve the actual meal until noon,” Flemmer said, “but a lot of them come 45 minutes early because it’s a social outing. … We’re giving them something to look forward to, to visit with their friends. It gets them out of the house. It keeps them mentally and physically healthy. If there was more funding we could probably do more than just one meal per week.”

Flemmer said the community center does not have a fixed price for the meals, but asks for $3.50 from those able to pay. She said the suggested donation will bump up to $5 due to the murky funding sources available next year.

The center’s budget for the cooks’ salaries for the next fiscal year totals $17,150, including payroll taxes. Flemmer said the city will work with the community center to cover the cooks’ salaries, but is not going to pay that completely.

“I feel we’re not reaching enough of the Stanfield residents who need assistance,” she said. “I think somehow we are missing people that really could benefit from the program.”

Flemmer said while the community center does pack and deliver some meals to shut-ins, CAPECO provides the majority of the community meal deliveries.

“We’re all in the same boat,” Flemmer said. “It’s just that there’s no money. It was great because of COVID and now it’s dried up. I think that’s probably why we’re all shocked now we’re actually losing some funding.”

“We’re definitely trying to step into the administrative role instead of the hands-on service,” said Dan Curtiss, program manager for the Area Agency on Aging. Among other responsibilities, he works with local meals for seniors.

“Does fundraising happen at the local level? You betcha,” Curtiss said. “Last month we got all these folks together, including some folks in another part of our really large service area, who are good at grant writing. So I’m trying to connect folks who need a little help. Maybe they haven’t done a lot of it. So we’re not just shaking hands and saying, ‘Best of luck,’ so much as, ‘Let us help you connect with other folks that can help you build your skills.’”

Flemmer said CAPECO is doing the best it can for the center.

“They have a lot of programs and it’s not their fault we don’t have the same funding we used to have,” she said.

It might be a valuable asset for the center, having an experienced volunteer grant writer already in the house.