Mayor proclaims March 2025 as Senior Nutrition Month; Area Agency on Aging highlights meal programs

Coeur d'Alene — Mayor Woody Evans proclaimed March 2025 as Senior Nutrition Month and the Area Agency on Aging of North Idaho presented information on its nutrition programs, including home-delivered and congregate meals, at the council meeting.

Sage Stoddard, director of the Area Agency on Aging of North Idaho (AAA) and a representative of North Idaho College, accepted the proclamation and gave a brief presentation on services. Stoddard said the AAA supports home-delivered meals and congregate meals across five northern Idaho counties and that in fiscal year 2024 the agency helped provide 73,413 home-delivered meals to 4,648 participants and 54,658 congregate meals to 2,122 participants in the five-county area.

Stoddard also spotlighted Lake City Center, a local senior center partially funded by the AAA, and said it served 43,177 meals in the center’s last fiscal year, including home-delivered meals to 343 participants and 3,313 congregate meals. The AAA’s broader services described in the presentation include homemaker assistance, caregiver respite, adult protection services and a long-term care ombudsman program.

During a brief question period, Stoddard explained that a congregate meal is typically a prepared meal served at senior centers where older adults can socialize; the program aims to address food insecurity and social isolation. When asked whether possible federal grant pauses would affect operations, Stoddard said AAA leadership had not heard of federal funding being paused and that, as of a recent meeting in Boise, it appeared quiet on that front.

The council presented the proclamation to Stoddard and recognized volunteers and senior center staff; no council action was required for the proclamation.