Talkeetna organization brings seniors together for lunch, companionship

A Talkeetna-area nonprofit organization has been going the extra mile for senior citizens in the upper Susitna Valley.

Sunshine Transit is a public transportation provider that has grown from humble roots. Originally started more than 10 years ago by a volunteer with a donated van offering rides along the Talkeetna Spur Road, the organization now provides 17,000 rides annually with a fleet of 22 vehicles that cover a variety of routes around Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Willow, Caswell, and Houston.

Among those rides is a service partnership with the Upper Susitna Food Pantry. The Reducing Isolation in Senior Populations Project, nicknamed “RIPPLES,” brings seniors together for a weekly meal and fellowship with others at the senior center.

Sunshine Transit’s executive director, Kim Schlosser, said the program offers services to meet the needs of the area’s aging population.

“In Talkeetna, the senior center is unable to support meal programs for low-income older adults, and many individuals have limited access to transportation,” she said. “By providing free transportation and underwriting the cost of meals, the RIPPLES program provides low-income older adults with an opportunity to eat a hot meal and socialize with their friends each week at the local senior center.”

That effort got a boost in February with a $25,000 grant from the Mat-Su Health Foundation. That funding will be used for driver wages and fuel for the four buses used each Tuesday to transport seniors attending the weekly lunches.

This is not the first Health Foundation grant received by Sunshine Transit. Schlosser noted that such funding is critical to providing assistance to seniors in an area of the community that lacks transportation infrastructure.

“Mat-Su Health Foundation also helps Sunshine Transit annually with a strategic grant that assists us in providing funds for operating expenses,” she said. “With these matching funds, Sunshine Transit is able to provide the vital services that are needed by our communities and their residents.”

The nonprofit Mat-Su Health Foundation has been making these kinds of investments in community health and wellness since its inception in 2007, when it became a part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Since then, the Health Foundation has devoted more than $138 million of its share of hospital profits to scholarships, sponsorships, and grants to other nonprofit organizations around the Valley.

LouAnne Carroll-Tysdal, the food pantry’s executive director, said the RIPPLES program was added to fill a void in the community that would have been difficult to pull off without financial assistance provided by Health Foundation grants.

“Our program effectively delivers essential food assistance to seniors, breaking down barriers and combating social isolation,” she said. “We take action to ensure that those in need receive the support they deserve.”

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https://sunshinetransit.org