Committee forwards $30,000 senior‑center funding request to Feb. 18 council agenda

The Parks, Recreation, Human Services and Public Safety Committee on Feb. 11 voted to forward a request to the Feb. 18 City Council business agenda asking that the council consider restoring $30,000 in human‑services contingency funding to the Federal Way Senior Centre.

The referral follows public comment from volunteers and users of the senior center describing meal and food‑bank operations. “We provide about 200 meals on 2 days a week — or 10,400 meals annually — to seniors of our community,” said Tom Stewart, a volunteer with the Federal Way Senior Centre. Stewart told the committee the center also operates a food bank that in a recent week served about 200 vehicles and “400 families each week.”

The Human Services staff presentation to the committee noted the request would come from contingency funds leftover in the 2025–26 human services grant cycle. City staff presented three options: (1) approve $30,000 from contingency to the senior center; (2) ask the Human Services Commission to revisit allocations; or (3) not fund and reserve contingency funds. City staff recommended option 1. “This funding request is coming from the contingency funds,” a city staff member said during the briefing.

Councilmember Susan Honda moved that the committee forward the request to the Feb. 18 business agenda for approval; Councilmember Lydia Sefa Dawson seconded the motion. The committee moved the item to the Feb. 18 agenda for council consideration; the committee did not itself approve disbursal of funds.

Why it matters: committee forwarding puts the item on the full council’s agenda for a final vote, and the $30,000 would be applied to ongoing center operations — specifically the cook who prepares meals and the food‑bank distribution that volunteers run.

Key details and context: volunteers and staff said the senior center operates with four part‑time staff and roughly 30 volunteers and serves a mix of seniors, veterans and families. Speakers emphasized that some attendees may rely on the center’s meal as their primary daily meal. The senior center uses donations from local retailers and food banks to supplement supplies; one commenter said the operation distributes “30,000 pounds of food” (as stated in public comment) and enumerated donors including Amazon Fresh, Costco and Food Lifeline. The senior center’s facility has an Auburn mailing address but operates inside Federal Way’s annexation area.

Next steps: the City Council is scheduled to consider the request on its Feb. 18 business agenda. If the council approves the appropriation, staff said the funds would be drawn from the human‑services contingency line in the 2025–26 budget. The committee noted that the contingency balance is limited; if the council uses the contingency for this request, only a nominal remainder would remain for other emergency requests in the current cycle.

Votes at a glance: the committee moved and seconded the referral; the item will return to the full City Council for final action on Feb. 18.