Senior Center seeks food donations, with focus on subsistence

The Wrangell Senior Center is in need of food donations, especially subsistence foods.

In particular, the center is seeking turkeys and hams, plus fish, deer meat, moose meat and liver. Moose or deer is preferred, but cow liver is fine too, because one of the center’s menu items is liver and onions. Donations will be collected through Jan. 31.

Site Manager Solvay Gillen said all the donations benefit the seniors, and people in town also can donate other food items, such as produce and seafood, if they’d like. Donations can be dropped off at the Senior Center, City Market or Wrangell IGA.

“When Trident Seafoods was in operation here, they used to give a lot of fish,” Gillen said. “That stopped.” Trident has not operated its Wrangell plant the past two years.

There hasn’t been any surrendered moose meat either, because there was no illegal-kill moose meat brought in this year, Gillen said. State wildlife troopers direct the meat from illegal moose kills to charities.

It’s important for the seniors to have subsistence foods, she said. “It’s a comfort thing, and a cultural connection for our Native elders who get services here, too.”

All the meals prepared for the seniors are delivered on wheels, Gillen said. “Because COVID cases are high, they can’t come in and sit down.”

Gillen said in addition to donations of food or funds, the Senior Center would love to have volunteers come in and help.

“People can volunteer to drive the bus as long as they have a valid driver’s license,” she said. “People can come in and bake bread.”

It all helps.