Catholic Charities Senior Dining will continue its Senior Dining Frozen Meal Expansion Project in 2021, with meals available at several locations across central Minnesota in March.
Times and locations in the lakes area are as follows:
Brainerd: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 4, Brainerd Lakes Salvation Army, 208 S 5th St.
Wadena: 1-2 p.m. March 4, Immanuel Lutheran Church, 403 2nd St SE.
Pillager: Noon to 4 p.m. March 11, Pillager Area Family Center, 305 Fir Ave.
Milaca: 2-3:30 p.m. March 11, Alliance Church, 12543 MN-23.
Little Falls: 10-11 a.m. March 12, Little Falls Senior Center, 510 7th St. NE.
Crosby: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 15, Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, 320 E Main St.
Staples: 2-5:30 p.m. March 18, Lakewood Health System (Senior Campus by gazebo), 401 Prairie Ave. NE.
Pierz: 10 a.m. to noon March 26, Fellowship Bible Church, 12876 MN-25.
The Senior Dining Frozen Meal Expansion Project started in August 2020, and additional locations are continually being added. Visit ccstcloud.org/events for the most up-to-date information on times and locations.
The project is partially funded under a contract with the Central Minnesota Council on Aging as part of the Older Americans Act.
In November 2020, Catholic Charities was awarded the Minnesota Department of Human Services Circle of Excellence award, which recognizes six organizations that have partnered with DHS and done an exemplary job of providing food, shelter and other assistance to Minnesotans in need. The award recognizes the Catholic Charities Senior Dining program and its need to change its model for providing low-cost nutritious meal options for older adults in central Minnesota during the pandemic. By incorporating frozen foods, developing pop-up sites and partnering with food shelves, including Catholic Charities Emergency Services Food Shelf, the Senior Dining program more than tripled its capacity and has been able to prepare and deliver about 91,000 meals per month, up from 26,000 meals a month the previous year.
ADVERTISEMENT
These healthy and nutritious frozen meals meet one-third of the recommended daily allowance for seniors and are packaged in oven-safe containers that are easy to heat and eat in both conventional and microwave ovens. Meals are available in quantities of 10 and up to 30 per calendar month. Participants must be 60 or older to be eligible, and all clients must complete an annual registration form. There is no cost to participate; however, donations will be accepted.
Meals are available to pick up in a contactless drive-thru format.
