November 2020 NewsletterLETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR A big hello to all of our friends! It has been a long 8 months not having your wonderful smiles and laughter filling the halls of the center. We have adopted a saying at the center, “We are open for business but our doors are locked”, and because of this policy, we have maintained full operations since March 13th, adapting our programs and services to become a critical Essential Service site for Shoreline and Lake Forest Park seniors. Through the amazing support of our cities, residents, King County and the Office of Rod Dembowski, we were able to quickly develop and implement the following services through September, 2020 (not including October’s counts). · Home delivered 11,009 hot cooked meals M-F in our new TO GO Community Dining Program
· Home delivered 9,805 frozen meals through the Meals on Wheels Program
· Provided 1,045 bags of groceries to low income senior households
· Spent over 340 hours in Wellness Calls—friendly telephone call to check on members & assist with their needs
· Provided 82 mental health counseling sessions
· Provided an estimated 347 hours of Resource Management-assist seniors through personal challenges created by Covid-19; managing over 300 urgent needs
· Re-instated in-house Foot Care on June 15th and have already provided services to 423 participants
· Have had 723 guests participate in our online Zoom classes since July 1st – September30th As we move into the last quarter of 2020, we are heavily focused on two major issues: a) creating programs and services to address the effects of Social Isolation and b) developing our 2021 Annual Operating Budget. In order to understand our operations, we’d like to share with you how we build financial resources. First off, we are a 501-C3 Independent Senior Center. We are housed under a larger organization called Sound Generations, which is the largest non-profit senior service provider in the state. While they provide our back-office administrative services such as IT, Human Resources to name a few, they do not financially cover our yearly budget. We are responsible to raise the $630,000 that we require to provide the level of services and programs offered each year. We build our budget through 8 various revenue generating programs:
Membership Receipt – Class Fees -Special Events (such as Holiday Bazaar) -Fund Raising
Corporate Sponsorship – Legacy Giving (Bequests) – Grant Funding -Cash Donations Throughout the year, we not only focus on that year’s funds but always building a reserve to move us into the new year. As you review the list mentioned above, you will see that we have not had any opportunity to raise funding in several of our normal revenue generating opportunities. You can help us this fall by purchasing a membership (see the new levels of membership noted in this newsletter), participate in classes, attend a drive-by fund raiser, or donate on our website or through our office. December 3rd, is the Global Give Big Tuesday and we will be participating on our website at www.shorelinelfseniorcenter.org or accepting your checks through the mail sent to the center. Join us in developing our ‘new senior center’ concept. One with onsite programming plus a variety of online classes/courses, ever increasing our medical services to the community and broadening our community wide/family Special Events. This month, we will begin hosting on-site classes, meeting all required safety precautions as well as offer additional online classes. If you see a friend who is in need, let us know and better yet, help them make that first phone call to our social worker and/or mental health counselor. You know the saying, “We are stronger together”! In closing, on behalf of the staff, board and volunteers, we cannot express to you, our gratitude for the many donations of food, finances and cards. You’ve made it possible for us to serve our community. It has been rough, but what a pleasure it has been, learning how amazing the residents of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park are. Our cities have stood at our side, providing every financial and physical resource they could. Please review our corporate sponsors and support their businesses. We are so grateful to them for their partnerships. You are out of site, but never out of our minds,
Theresa LaCroix | 
