Matt Mason, our roving photographer, snapped some shots of this last weekend’s final Wallingford Senior Center Pancake Breakfast. His photos and write-up are below:
Today was the last Sunday Pancake Breakfast at the Wallingford Senior Center. Located inside the Good Shepherd Center, the Senior Center will be closing its doors this Friday, after thirty years of service to local seniors and to the greater community of Wallingford and North Seattle.
The monthly Sunday Pancake Breakfast has been a staple of the senior center programming along with the Spaghetti Dinner and Friendship Luncheon. On a regular Sunday, they serve anywhere from 85 to 100 meals. A volunteer army of more than 15 people crank out pancakes, french toast, ham, sausage, coffee, tea and juice served restaurant style, with a host and servers making sure everyone is taken care of. Today, Jim Stillman, the President of the Board, greets and seats people as they arrive. Board Member, Angela Larsen, jumped in on dish duty as the rush hit, filling the entire basement to capacity, with a wait for seating. Sara, the head of the kitchen, has been volunteering at the Pancake Breakfast for 23 years. She kept the breakfast plates flying quickly out to the hungry customers.
Senior Centers across the nation have been hit hard in recent years. Kathleen Cromp, the Executive Director of the center, sees it as a social commentary, a sector of society often overlooked, adding, “We won’t be the last [Center to close]”. While some Centers are programs of the city or state, some, like the one in Wallingford, are totally independent organizations receiving only limited municipal support. It is a difficult business model to maintain, points out Jim Stillman. The low fees for the services provided don’t come close to covering the expenses of the Center. It is also the only Center in Seattle that pays rent. This stand-alone organization has been struggling for many years and the recent economic downturn has made fund raising especially challenging.
The closure of the Center is also a step back in the larger goal of a full blown Community Center. A long range plan for this included providing services not just for Seniors but for the entire community. The Department of Neighborhoods has voiced their support of the idea, but most of the momentum is lost with this closing. However, this Friday doesn’t have to be the end. The Board is going to continue working to formulate a restart plan. Jim Stillman has met with Frank Chopp, Speaker of the House, and has a meeting scheduled with City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen on Tuesday. Jim is hoping a new approach, such as building a coalition of organizations, can produce a more sustainable business model. So please contact the City Council and Mayor’s office and show your support for the Senior Center. Help bring this important community organization back to life. If you would like to donate to the center please contact Kathleen Cromp, Executive Director, at 206-461-7825. Also, updates can be found at http://www.wallingfordseniors.org/
Sue also attended and wrote:
We went this morning and it was packed. After we sat down we waited about 45 minutes for breakfast. All the waitstaff said they were not assigned to our table! We sat next to 2 older people who said they don’t what they are going to do when the center closes. The woman said she had taken Spanish classes there, bridge and volunteered for the spaghetti dinner. The man said his baseball team was “in jeapordy” and also ticked off a list of all he would miss. He must have been in his late 80’s. Both said there is not another senior center close as the UDistrict one had to close.
I talked with the Director who said she will still be working all of next month closing things down. I asked if she was going to have an event for a fundraiser and she said she doesn’t have enough “donor base.” So why not still have it? You don’t know till you try. I was a bit surprised. She should focus this week on a big event – marketing, spreading the word and raising money. The Seniors need it.
I saw a paper hanging on the wall near the director’s office and it seemed to show they needed 30k to keep going. It mapped out how much they would spend for an event, how much they hoped to raise and it came out net to $30k. I think the director told me that as well. I hope she gives it a try to have a fundraiser. Who knows maybe they will get one big donation just doing an event. You never know who is out there. It was heartbreaking to see the older folks sitting around so comfortably knowing their time there was limited. I don’t know how to help them other than you all getting the word out and other blogs.
The director there has been trying for months and months to build a sustainable revenue plan. one event just doesn’t sustain an organization, and it’s a lot of work to hold an event. For most nonprofits an event doesn’t produce extra revenue (after factoring in the expenses) until several years of running that event. There really wasn’t enough community support to sustain this senior center. Which is sad.