This is the final week for deliveries of free hot meals to seniors in Kalona, Wellman, Riverside, and West Chester.

Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says these are the last days seniors in those four communities can receive the hot meals for free, but the delivery program will continue through April for those willing to pay for their meals, “We are going to look to do a sliding scale where it will start at $4 and all the way up to $7, where we would ask those people who participate to select their comfort level based on their financial situation so we can make it a self-sustainable model to carry through.”

Deliveries will be reduced to one day a week on Wednesdays starting March 17th. Schlabaugh says as of March 4th, they have delivered 1,146 free hot meals to seniors in Kalona since the program started in December after the city received about $8,000 in public donations due to the success of their pop-up food pantries. The city suspended both the pop-up pantry and free senior food bags programs at the end of February, but they could return in the fall. Schlabaugh says they also still have some food in reserves if someone is facing a food emergency and they can call the city for assistance.