Nutrition Advisory Council

TAYLOR COUNTY NUTRITION ADVISORY COUNCIL Thursday December 12, 2024 Medford Senior Site 845 E Broadway Medford, WI Members Present : Joyce Peterson — Westboro, Donna Mae Graffunder — Medford, Sandra Rizzi — Rib Lake, Richard Pulcher – Gilman, Donna Hrdina – Goodrich, Vivian Kremsreiter - Stetsonville, Steve Fleming – Jump River, Jenn Viergutz – COA Director, Jenny Coleman -COA Program Specialist. Member(s) Absent: none Call Meeting to Order: Peterson called the meeting to order at 10:37 AM. Approve Minutes of the September 19, 2024 Meeting: Rizzi moved to approve the minutes; seconded by Kremsreiter. All Ayes. Motion carried. Approve the Agenda: Hrdina moved to approve the agenda with nine items; second by Fleming. All Ayes. Motion carried. Public Input: none Review 3rd Quarter Nutrition Reports: Reports were distributed and reviewed. Discussion around the statistics, not all sites are seeing the full increase in the contribution since the increase to $5 in March. Discussion regarding whe ther we should be concerned about this or not. Viergutz stated that with the overall site contributions average over $4 per meal. In the next year with the merger in with the ADRC it is the understanding that some of the funding throughout the department may shift a little and some of those may be able to be put back into the nutrition program. It is suggested to explore other money savings options and to wait and see how things even out within the first year of the merger. Site Updates: Jump River: Fleming stated that the Community Hall received a grant to redo the floors, however they were not given consideration when a time was chosen to have that completed. Thus, affecting the site’s Christmas party next week. Thankfully one of the local churches has graciously opened their doors to allow them to pick up their meal, take it to the church and allow them to have a gathering location. Fleming stated having started Nail Care at their site has also been a huge benefit. Participants appreciate the service, and a few extras stay for lunch that day. Gilman: Pulcher reports that the ladies at the site have been hosting monthly bingo and having prizes donated by local businesses. They have also received some new items at the site that were purchased through the Supporting Healthy Aging Grant. Goodrich: Hrdina reported food has been good. Nothing new and all has been going well. Medford: Graffunder reports Medford site doing well. All have been enjoying the site updates that have been provided through the grant. She thanked the COA for making that happen. Rib Lake: Rizzi reported that her husband attended the site during a nail care day. She said there were a lot of people, the environment was upbeat and welcoming. Stetsonville: Kremsreiter reported a busy time of the year for the hall. Westboro: Peterson reported they are maintaining numbers. Recently, we needed to replace a hot water heater and are also looking at an automatic door through the Supporting Healthy Aging Grant. There was a brief discussion regarding participants crossing county lines. Both Viergutz and Coleman stated that for congregate dining, it does not matter where the person lives as long as we have a registration form filled out. The home delivered meal program is where we cannot cross county lines. Director’s Report: Viergutz introduced Program Specialist Coleman to the group and provided explanation of her job roles and expectations related to the nutrition program. Effective January 1 Coleman’s role will become fu ll time and as she pretty runs the home delivered meal program, she will be taking on more congregate responsibilities. She will be taking over the Nutrition Advisory Council and some site trainings. Coleman will also be visiting the sites more frequently as Viergutz will not be able to get out as much with the new responsibilities. We have applied for a waiver with GWAAR because we will no longer have a full -time nutrition director. Medford has a new site manager Dana Detwiler and she was introduced to the group. Discussed how each site handles distribution of leftover food. It was noted that each of the Styrofoam containers cost about .40 each. Effective January 1, 2025, we will ask the sites to use reusable containers. Participants may bring in containers from home. Training will be provided to site managers to make sure all containers have been washed before being used and items are being dated before leaving. The program will purchase some Tupperware containers to be used for this purpose. At this time, it was also discussed about Styrofoam containers being used for home delivered meals and to cut down on waste. Coleman and Viergutz will work with the identified site to streamline packaging efficiency. Supporting Healthy Aging Grant: Medford: Many items were already updated, we continue to slowly work on the project and will get an area rug, reupholster the furniture and miscellaneous items. Gilman: Storage cabinets, coffee pot, microwave, garbage can, and delivery bags were recently purchased. We continue to work with the Village of Gilman to explore a flashing crosswalk outside the Senior Center. Jump River and Westboro are both looking into automatic doors for the entrances. Quotes have been obtained. We received word that Taylor County had a redemption rate of 83% for the Senior Farmer Market Voucher Program this past year versus the State average of 74%. Our Elder Benefit Specialist initially received more vouchers than the previous year and also requested about 25 additional vouchers to distribute in Taylor County. We are very pleased Taylor County Seniors are using this program. We discussed the transition of the ADRC of Taylor County. The goal of adding onto the building to identify more office spaces and what the plan is in the meantime. This transition will not affect this council. Shara from UW Extension Foodwise program recently completed a cooking class series in Rib Lake and will be looking to hold a class in the Gilman area after the first of the year. With the foodwise program, they have specific requirements to market and serve those at the 200% poverty level. It was discussed if there were any other resources available about air fryer classes/cooking. COA will check with the Extension or our local dietitian. Set Next Meeting Date: The next meeting will be Wednesday March 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM in Goodrich. Adjourn: Fleming moved to adjourn the meeting; second by Pulcher. All Ayes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:45 AM. Jenn Viergutz, Aging Director, Secretary TAYLOR COUNTY NUTRITION ADVISORY COUNCIL Thursday September 19, 2024 Centennial Community Center Stetsonville, WI 54480 Members Present: Joyce Peterson — Westboro, Donna Mae Graffunder — Medford, Sandra Rizzi — Rib Lake, Richard Pulcher – Gilman, Donna Hrdina – Goodrich, Vivian Kremsreiter - Stetsonville, Jenn Viergutz – COA Director. Member(s) Absent: Steve Fleming – Jump River Call Meeting to Order: Peterson called the meeting to order at 10:06 AM. Approve Minutes of the Ju ne 13, 2024 Meeting: Hrdina moved to approve the minutes with the two said corrections to the Farmers Market Voucher amounts; seconded by Pulcher. All Ayes. Motion carried. Approve the Agenda: Rizzi moved to approve the agenda with nine items; second by Hrdina. All Ayes. Motion carried. Public Input: none Review 1st Quarter Nutrition Reports: Reports were distributed and reviewed. Discussion around the statistics, not all sites are seeing the full increase in the contribution since the increase to $5 in March. May looked like the busiest month as far as number of meals served. Site Updates: Gilman: Pulcher reports that the ladies at the site have been hosting monthly bingo and having prizes donated by local businesses. By holding this monthly bingo event, it seems to have increased their daily numbers to almost 6 -10 people some days. So, it has helped to have people come back throughout the month and participate in the program. Goodrich: Great core group attending on a weekly basis. Yesterday t here were 23 people attending including some from Rib Lake. Medford: Graffunder reports Medford site doing well. Having different events has really helped bring more people in, some days up to 40 people. Wednesday seems to be the biggest day overall. Also have a men’s table some days. Rib Lake: Rizzi reported that her and a friend went during the monthly event. Everyone appeared to be having a good time. Stetsonville: Kremsreiter reported congregate numbers continue to decline, and an increase in home delivered. Westboro: Peterson reported we planned an event in August, a themed picnic with bingo to try and bring in a few more people. While, a new couple did come to eat, it does not appear as though they would return often as they do not seem to eat big meals for lunch. It was agreed that we would try again. Director’s Report: With the Supporting Healthy Aging Coalition and the recent grants that were awarded all sites received new wheelchairs that were delivered to the sites. The wheelchairs are to remain at the sites for participants to use if needed or in case of emergencies. Effective October 1, 2024 -March 31,2025 Gilman will reopen the site on Tuesdays. We are also going to start working on modernization of the Medford site. We will start with painting. We have two opportunities from the United Way to help with painting, the first is with homecoming and for a few hours on the 27th of September and the second is a full day on Friday October 11th. The other plan is to remove one of the tw o existing pool tables, make a seating area with large screen tv and fireplace and update artwork on the wall. We priced the flooring, however that seems to be a little too much at this time. Indianhead has received the grant again to offer seniors the $25 gift card incentive for those who receive the flu and/or covid vaccine this season. We will have those forms available in our office starting October 1st, we will also make sure we are getting some out to the sites as well. The Senior Health Fair is scheduled for Friday October 18 th at Medford High School. Everything is on schedule. There have been a few incidents of politics being brought up at a few of the sites. This is a good reminder to make sure that the conversations remain neutral and that all participants feel welcome at the sites. There should be no talks of politics or political propaganda. I will also remind the site managers to be watchful of this over the next several months. We have a fall regional site manager training in Antig o on Thursday October 24 th. All site managers are required to obtain a certain number of ongoing trainings per year. This training is in collaboration with several other counties and very beneficial. We are planning the next Pop -Up dining site on Tuesday October 29 th at NTC in collaboration with the Supporting Healthy Aging Coalition to present education on Preventing Fraud and Scams with a presentation by Jeff Kersten by the State. Lunch would be catered by BRI, serving starting at 11:30 and presentation starting at noon. Set Next Meeting Date: The next meeting will be Thursday December 12, 2024 at 10:30 AM in Medford. Adjourn: Kremsreiter moved to adjourn the meeting; second by Hrdina. All Ayes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:06 AM. Jenn Viergutz, Aging Director, Secretary TAYLOR COUNTY NUTRITION ADVISORY COUNCIL Thursday June 13, 2024 Jump River Community Hall W14751 River St Jump River, WI 54434 Members Present: Joyce Peterson — Westboro, Donna Mae Graffunder — Medford, Sandra Rizzi — Rib Lake, Richard Pulcher – Gilman, Donna Hrdina – Goodrich, Steve Fleming – Jump River, Jenn Viergutz – COA Director. Member(s) Absent: Vivian Kremsreiter- Stetsonville, Call Meeting to Order: Peterson called the meeting to order at 10:28 AM. Approve Minutes of the December 13, 2023, and March 14, 2024 Meeting: Approve the Agenda: Hrdina moved to approve the agenda with nine items; second by Fleming. All Ayes. Motion carried. Public Input: none Review 1st Quarter Nutrition Repor ts: Reports were distributed and reviewed. Suggested contributions were increased to $5 in March. We also reviewed year end statistics from 2023 verses 2022. The trends noted is that the number of home -delivered meals are coming down and congregate meals are trending up, which is what we want to see after the Covid pandemic. Site Updates: Jump River: Fleming reported that the site numbers continue to go down due to deaths of long-time members but still have a solid core group. The COA recently complet ed Bingocize, a high evidence-based health promotion program focused on falls prevention at the site. Westboro: Peterson also reported the site number decreasing due to a death and aging. Solid core remains. We will focus on planning an event soon and focus on recruiting some local people to attend. Even if they attend monthly, growing the number of people who are exposed to the program will be beneficial. Medford: Graffunder reports Medford site doing well and had 23 people attend the previous day. They are doing different events during the summer instead of dinner and a movie, such as Karaoke Day in June and Fair before the Fair in July. It also helps that there is an exercise class on Mondays and Thursdays in the Multi-Purpose room from 11:15-11:45. Gilman: Pulcher reports that the ladies at the site have been hosting monthly bingo and having prizes donated by local businesses. It generally draws in about 25 people, noting that some people who are old enough to stay bring their older parents, however they are entering the door. We are also working on the curb appeal in Gilman. Last year we were able to make some updates to the inside of the building. This year, we have redone the flowerbeds in front and pushing to put a new coat of stain on the building. Maintenance is working on the backside, addressing a water leak issue. Rib Lake: The Rib Lake site has also been starting a monthly event. Arlene has John Hein play music before a meal and they will play bingo after the meal. They also have a grea t volunteer base. Rizzi stated that currently she does not eat at the center unless attending with a friend, however, is interested in the other opportunities offered at the site. Goodrich: Great core group attending on a weekly basis. Wonderful socializing opportunity. Many of the participants carry out the operating functions of the meal as the site owners are getting older, it will be a concern when the owners will not be able to hold the site at their location anymore. They have a very strong and dedicated volunteer base. Stetsonville: Congregate numbers continue to decline, and an increase in home delivered. Director’s Report: The Supporting Healthy Aging Coalition applied for two grants and was awarded both grants of $100,000 each for Social Isolation and Loneliness and Livable Communities. Kudos to the Health department who wrote the grant and will be managing the grant. Viergutz provided some examples of what was written into the budget worksheet of these grants. Some of these areas include t ransportation in local areas, Wi -Fi and technology in the nutrition sites, wheelchairs for all nutrition sites, continued public educational series including marketing and publications, pocket translators and hearing devices, respite services, print services for updating senior resource guides. Potential of resuming Tuesday meals in Gilman at least until April 2025 and an update of the Medford Site. Viergutz stated the list has so many items that will truly help our Coalition make an impact on our communit ies. The majority of these funds need to be spent by March 31, 2025, so these items will have a fairly quick implementation time. Service changes- Effective July 1, 2024, Medford home delivered meals will not be delivered on Thursdays. With that change we are also asking participants to convey any meal schedule changes to the COA offices versus the driver. As of this point, we have one person who has identified that they have a concern regarding a safety check. One of the office staff will make a daily call to check on that person during the time they would have normally received that meal delivery. Also, as mentioned with the grants received there may be a possibility of adding Tuesdays back to the Gilman site. Viergutz will check with GWAAR regarding the grant funds and requirements. Farmers Market Vouchers will be available for distribution beginning on Tuesday June 18 and June 19 th in the Multi -Purpose room, June 20 th in Gilman and Jump River and then anytime in the office after those kick -off e vents. The vouchers are worth $45 this year and our office received about twenty additional certificates than last year. Each book comes with (9) $5 vouchers that can be used at any Authorized Vendor in the State of WI. An Authorized Vendor is to display a yellow sign at their booth. In Taylor County we have two vendors; We Grow LLC and Nelson Berry Farm. Participants must use all $5 at one time as no change will be given. Vouchers are good until October 31, 2024. Last year’s participation rate was be tween 85-85%, which was one of the higher rated counties within the state. Set Next Meeting Date: The next meeting will be Thursday September 19 at 10:00 AM in Stetsonville. Adjourn: Pulcher moved to adjourn the meeting; second by Graffunder. All Ayes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM. Jenn Viergutz, Aging Director, Secretary TAYLOR COUNTY NUTRITION ADVISORY COUNCIL- Thursday March 14, 2024 Westboro Senior Site N8835 Business Highway 14 Westboro, WI 54490 Members Present: Joyce Peterson-Westboro, Donna Mae Graffunder -Medford, Sandra Rizzi - Rib Lake, Jenn Viergutz – COA Director. Member(s) Absent: Richard Pulcher -Gilman, Donna Hrdina -Goodrich, Steve Fleming –Jump River, Vivian Kremsreiter-Stetsonville, Call Meeting to Order: Peterson called the meeting to order at 10:24 AM. No action items were acted upon due to lack of quorum. Approve Minutes of the December 13, 2023 Meeting: No action taken Approve the Agenda: No action taken Public Input: none Review 4th Quarter Nutrition Reports: Reports were distributed and reviewed. It was noted that the contribution amounts average out during the quarter. Site Updates: Medford: Graffunder stated all is going well, there are a few more individuals attending. It was noted that the pop -up site that was held in January at BRI was well attended and very interesting. Suggestions for additional pop-op sites would include a picnic in the park, zoo and brewery. Westboro: Peterson was pleased to share with the group the new cei ling and lighting in the building. It looks nicer and also helps with the sound. Jump River: Viergutz stated that Jump River will be a site hosting Bingocize. Bingocize is a high evidence-based program that combines bingo and exercise and focuses on Falls Prevention. It is a ten-week course held twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Gilman: Viergutz reported that they started a monthly bingo/themed event with great response. Last month they had over 25 people participate. Director’s Report: Viergutz recapped the first pop up site that was held the end of January at BRI. Over 35 people attended. The next pop-up site will be in collaboration with the Supporting Health Aging Series on March 26 th at NTC. Currently we have about 35 people signed up. Also potentially looking at partnering with the brewery for an event. Viergutz then recapped the 2023 statistics total and by site. Viergutz mentioned that the GWAAR Nutrition Assessment is completed and the only piece to follow up on is to have annua l leases with the site and that is being worked on with corporate council. It was asked that all representatives check at their sites to ensure the new contribution sign was posted as of March 1, 2024. We will have the office send an additional copy to the sites. It is also recommended to discuss this at your site and designate an alternate so if you are unable to make a meeting, someone would be able to take your place. Viergutz stated the volunteer appreciation dinner will be Friday April 19, 2024 in Stetsonville. Set Next Meeting Date: The next meeting will be Thursday June 13, 2024 at 10:30 AM at the Jump River Nutrition Site. Adjourn: . Meeting adjourned at 11:16 AM. Jenn Viergutz, Aging Director, Secretary