Draper Senior Center says new caterer offers three daily meal options; $4 suggested donation helps cover costs

Sean Ashby, center manager at the Draper Senior Center, described the center's café model and its meal program, saying the center's new caterer, Elevation Catering, offers three daily meal options and a rotating quarterly menu and that the meal is a suggested $4 donation to help offset food costs.

"We have a new caterer here. They've been here about a year now and their name is Elevation Catering and they offer 3 different meal types every day," Ashby said. He described the offerings as one main meal — for example, meatloaf and mashed potatoes on the day he spoke — plus two alternate meals. "1 of them is the main meal, like today is meatloaf and mashed potatoes. And then they offer 2 alternate meals. 1 of them is a chef's salad. You can get a chef's salad daily. Or, our current second alternate meal is a chicken noodle soup," he said.

Ashby said the café uses a rotating quarterly menu. "We have a menu that rotates every quarter, and so quarterly those menu items will change. So they've been doing a great job. Our seniors love coming here and having lunch," he said, noting the center typically sees an influx of seniors at lunchtime and that some people come primarily for the meal.

He said the center operates on donations and described the payment model: "The meal itself is a suggested donation of $4 per meal." Ashby added that the payment is not required if a senior cannot afford it: "If senior can't afford that, we don't require them to pay that amount, but is a suggested donation." He said those donated funds go back to the county to help offset the cost of food.

The center's presentation gave attendees basic operational details — caterer name, daily meal structure, menu rotation and the suggested donation level — but did not include enrollment figures, program budget totals or meal-count data.