Mid Valley Seniors get new wheels for meals

Thanks to a grant from Alaska's most philanthropic family, the Mid Valley Seniors are making sure nobody goes hungry.

The senior center secured a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation late last year, and recently took delivery of a 2004 Chevrolet Astro van, which replace the center's old van. It will be used to deliver meals to home-bound seniors.

"We serve about 25 meals a day, from Meadow Lakes to past Houston," said Elsie O'Bryan of Mid Valley Seniors, Inc. "It's a 60-mile route, every day."

The old van, a 1992 Plymouth model, had more than 110,000 miles on it and O'Bryan said it was becoming more expensive to maintain, as well as becoming less reliable by the day.

In August, the seniors attended a seminar held through the United Way in which grants from the Rasmuson Foundation were discussed. The presentation included a video of how Rasmuson Foundation grants have helped communities and organizations around Alaska -- the family foundation is one of the largest of its kind on the entire West Coast, and easily the largest in Alaska.

"They have helped a lot of different people in a lot of different places," O'Bryan said.

The seniors applied and heard they were chosen in November. O'Bryan said Tony Chevrolet gave the senior center a great deal on the van, Diversified Tire gave them yet another deal on studded tires for it, and B Original Signs gave them a break for the signage.

"We've gotten taken care of everywhere we've gone," O'Bryan said.

While the primary purpose of the van is to deliver meals to homebound seniors, it will be used for other things as well, such as transporting employees to the homes of seniors, where they do heavy chore work for seniors who can't do it themselves.

"Things like chopping wood, and helping with heavy jobs that need to get done," O'Bryan explained.

While Mid Valley Seniors, Inc. doesn't provide transportation for seniors currently, the new van might be used to add that service in the future, if need and funds allow.

The new van is already in service, but the old one hasn't gone anywhere -- yet. The board decided to sell the van, and O'Bryan said Mid Valley Seniors is in the process of accepting bids.

"There are quite a few people interested in it," she said.