Christmas comes early for Meals on Wheels

OSBURN — The Silver Valley Meals on Wheels program may have been the first to receive a holiday miracle this winter season.

In a previous article, just two weeks ago, the News-Press highlighted the nonprofit organization’s importance in the community, as it has spent more than 20 years delivering warm meals to roughly 50-100 homebound seniors every day. However, at the time the organization had seen a long period of financial difficulty — taking on around $2,000 of financial losses every month which had them struggling to keep the program running.

“At this point, we can continue with what we have for probably two months, and then something has to be addressed,” Meals on Wheels program manager Darrell Lemieux said at the time.

To help cut costs, the program was reduced from a five-day delivery schedule to just three days, something that had never been done before, and was a concern for Lemieux as his team often provided wellness checks on many meal recipients, in addition to their only hot meal of the day.

In an effort to raise awareness and support, Lemieux called on the News-Press, as well as friends and community members.

What happened next, he says, is nothing short of divine.

Lemieux explained how as soon as word spread about the program’s difficult circumstances, people from all over the Silver Valley and beyond came immediately to answer the call.

Within days, the program had seen enough financial support to get their crews back to delivering meals and smiles full time. From there, Lemieux said things continued to surge.

“When this first happened I was getting around 25 calls a day with people wanting to help. Now things have slowed down, but I’m still getting around 10 calls every day. It’s actually to the point where it’s getting hard to get my usual stuff done,” he said with a laugh. “But that’s a great problem to have. It’s just out of this world.”

Lemieux has been no stranger to raising funds for various causes over the years, but said this is unlike anything he’s ever seen.

“It's been unbelievable,” he said. “I’ve been in other situations where I’ve had to raise money for things, but this has been the biggest turn out and support that I’ve ever seen. And it’s not just money; it’s been grants and volunteers, and people just showing up wanting to help.”

While the program is not in the clear yet, Lemieux said the road toward long stability is looking a lot less daunting.

Linked to the original article was a GoFundMe account that was set up with a goal of $30,000, which Lemieux said would provide the organization the immediate support needed to operate.

Currently, the account has raised $9,750, but with the community's support, the organization was able to surpass their original goal and are now looking to achieve long-term stability.

“I haven’t corrected the problem completely, but we’re on that road right now,” he said.

Lemieux knows it will take ongoing support to keep the program running for years to come, but that right now, the team will now organize funds and work it into a budget to make it last as long as possible.

Lemieux also mentioned that he wants to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone in the community who has made the program’s continuation possible. While the ability to breath a quick sigh of relief has been alleviating for their staff, he emphasized that the ability to show each senior recipient that they are far from being forgotten by the community has been invaluable.

“It’s an uplift for everybody,” he said. “If they read this, or get to feel that support, can you imagine how that makes them feel? We’ve been telling them that, but this is another way of them hearing it.”

If you would like to become a sponsor for the Meals on Wheels program, donations can be made to their GoFundMe page, or at the Silver Valley Senior Center at 208-752-1194, in-person at 726 E. Mullan Ave. in Osburn or by mail at P.O. Box 887, Osburn, ID 83849.