Great Plates program helps local seniors

When the COVID-19 pandemic closed gathering places and local seniors were asked to stay home, advocates worried that some of them — especially those who relied on programs like the LOEL Center’s lunches — would not have access to regular, nutritious meals.

So when the State of California launched the Great Plates Delivered program in the beginning of May, Lodi was one of the first cities to sign up.

The program allows the City of Lodi to work with local restaurants to deliver three meals a day to local seniors, boosting local businesses while ensuring one of the groups most atrisk from COVID-19 has enough to eat.

And Lodi seniors have welcomed the meals.

They’re often eagerly waiting on their doorsteps for their meals to arrive, said Gregg Lewis, owner of The Dancing Fox Winery and Brewery. The restaurant is one of three in Lodi working with the program.

“It is good to know that it’s helping them out,” he said.

The program is open to adults 65 and older, as well as those ages 60 to 64 who are in a group that is at high risk from COVID-19. There are a few requirements, including that participants must live within Lodi city limits and meet certain income limits.

Along with The Dancing Fox, participating restaurants are Village Coffee Shop and Brick House Restaurant & Lounge. However, a few others have applied, said Astrida Trupovnieks, the City of Lodi’s business development manager.

“I’ve got a couple more in the pipeline,” she said.

The restaurants provide three nutritious meals each day. For example, recent breakfast offerings from The Dancing Fox have included a ham and cheese croissant, served with fresh fruit salad, and milk. Milk is included with every meal as part of the program, but the food changes regularly.

“We’ve got something different every day,” Lewis said.

Each of the participating restaurants has a different menu, Trupovnieks said.

“They all sound really good,” she said.

The City of Lodi is fronting the cost, which is about $100,000 a month, city spokesman Jeff Hood said. However, 75% of the costs will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with the California Office of Emergency Services covering another 18.75%. That leaves the city on the hook for just 6.25% — a little over $6,000 based on current enrollment.

The LOEL Center is working with the city to get seniors enrolled in the Great Plates Delivered program.

“There’s close to three hundred people (so far),” LOEL Center President and CEO Tracy Williams said.

That number includes about 50 who had been on the waiting list for Meals on Wheels, she said.

“It’s more than what we were expecting,” Hood said.

That number has been increasing daily, Trupovnieks said.

Each of the participating restaurants is reimbursed $66 per person per day; they are responsible for purchasing supplies, preparing the food, and delivering it to their senior customers.

For The Dancing Fox, it’s been a lifeline.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of Lodi, The Dancing Fox joined many local restaurants in offering takeout service to customers. However, that business wasn’t enough to keep the restaurant going, Lewis said.

The Great Plates Delivered program took a lot of paperwork, and requires the restaurant to make three meals a day, seven days a week. But the extra revenue has helped Lewis and his family-owned eatery stay afloat. “We’ve been thankful,” he said. It’s also a feather in Lodi’s cap. The city was the first in San Joaquin County to launch the program, and one of the first in the state.

“We wanted to make sure that people who were sheltered and didn’t have access to food ... got it pretty quickly,” Trupovnieks said.

The program is expected to last until at least June 10, she said, and it may even be extended into July. Since there’s no cap on enrollment, there is still time for seniors to sign up.

They will need to answer a questionnaire and meet a few requirements.

“We have to be very careful, because it’s government funds,” Trupovnieks said.

Even so, Williams said, they haven’t yet had to turn very many seniors away. Even though the program is intended to be short-lived, it’s been a big help for some local residents, especially those at risk of serious illness from COVID19.

“It’s helping them stay healthy and shut in until everything’s lifted,” Williams said.