The Wyoming Community Foundation has granted the Powell Senior Center $7,500 to support the center’s nutrition program. 

The senior center has been experiencing ongoing challenges due to increased expenses, decreased member income, supply problems resulting in expensive substitutes, and an increase in the number of people served. 

The grant, made possible because of the Saylak Family Unrestricted Endowment Fund at the Wyoming Community Foundation, was recommended by the foundation’s statewide board. The dollars will help the center keep its prices affordable.

The center’s nutrition program has been successfully providing affordable, well-balanced meals to seniors for decades. Despite current challenges, the center does not want its increased expenses to affect senior clients. 

Linda Dalton, director of the Powell Senior Center, said the cost for raw food and supplies essential for cleaning, kitchen operations and home-delivered meals has increased by 32% from a year ago. They’ve also been hit with increases in fuel costs and higher wages to recruit and retain employees. 

“The purpose of the Powell Senior Center is to provide services that our clients can afford. Even though our expenses have increased, increasing our costs is not an option,” Dalton said. 

Numerous seniors are on fixed incomes and are experiencing inflation hardships in multiple areas of their lives, including increased costs of food, utilities, fuel, and medical care. 

“Social Security beneficiaries have seen a 5.9% increase to their monthly checks in 2022, but that increase doesn’t come close to covering the cost of living increase that we are seeing in Park County,” Dalton said. 

The cost-of-living adjustment, Dalton said, was “quickly eaten up by the increase in their Medicare Part B premiums.” 

Dalton said the support from the Wyoming Community Foundation will help keep the center’s prices steady, as seniors on fixed incomes don’t have extra money to spend. 

She is adamant that senior services remain affordable, as seniors on fixed incomes do not have extra money to spend.

The foundation’s support “helps a vulnerable population,” Dalton said. “We appreciate the foundation’s aid.”

To learn more about the Powell Senior Center or to donate, visit www.powellseniorcenter.com or contact Dalton at 307-754-4223.

The Wyoming Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works with donors to support the charitable causes they care most about. In 2021, the Wyoming Community Foundation granted over $8 million to charitable causes across the state. For more information, call 307-721-8300 or visit www.wycf.org.