A volunteer at The Centre for Seniors Information makes a hearty dish. The organization now offers frozen home made meals with proceeds going back into funding for seniors programs.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED - The Centre for Seniors Information
August 16, 2019 - 5:00 PM
KAMLOOPS - A new service encourages people from Kamloops to skip cooking and help seniors at the same time.
The Centre for Seniors Information has just started a new program where frozen lunches and dinners take the spotlight. The meals are made with health and budget in mind, and all proceeds go towards programs to help seniors.
Brandi Allen, executive director at The Centre for Seniors Information, says the new program has had a successful start.
“We just started it, we’re just working on building up some inventory,” Allen says. “We’re selling them almost as fast as we're making them.”
The Centre for Seniors Information is known for its services to seniors and covers all things from income tax assistance to lunch socials.
“A lot of the people that come in for lunch we recognize that's probably the only homemade meal they're going to have that day or the largest meal they're going to have that day or the most wholesome meal they're going to have that day,” Allen says.
The organization realized there was a need for frozen takeaway meals after many people participating in the lunches would take half of the meal home for dinner.
“It didn’t take us very long to be like, ‘We have to come up with something that's going to better suit the people that are taking these meals home anyways, so we know on days we don’t serve lunch or days they can’t come in, they’re still going to have that option.’”
The frozen meals offered range in price from $3 to $6, according to Allen. The food is sourced from local butchers, farmers, and grocery stores.
“A lot of the meals we have are kind of that old school, homemade, comfort foods. We've got ribs and garlic mashed potatoes, shepherd's pie, lasagna… we find those are the ones that go over the best here,” Allen says.
The money raised from the sale of the meals goes into assistance and social programming for seniors.
“We have seniors that come in who need help filling out forms for the government and things like that, we do a lot of information and referral for seniors that are trying to navigate government as well as the community to see what they qualify for in regards to different subsidies and different programming,” Allen says.
Although there are other programs that offer meals to seniors, Allen believes this is one is unique because of the quality of food and how the proceeds go directly back to community programs.
“The biggest difference is going to be price point as well as quality and it's a matter of preference, but it's also really nice how the money goes back into a charity.”
Allen has high hopes for the future of the program. She plans on selling the meals in various locations and offering meals that cater to different dietary restrictions, such as vegetarian, gluten-free, and keto.
Allen points out that although the meals currently offered are individual size, they are already looking into making family-sized dishes.
“I’m a mother, I work full time, there have been lots of times I’ve purchased those meals before I go home,” Allen says. “That’s whats my family is having for dinner because I had a long day and I don’t feel like cooking.”
You can pick up the pre-made meals at The Centre for Seniors Information at 1800 Tranquille Rd, unit 9A. For more information on their services, click here.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Wheeler or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2019