The Sandpoint Senior Center has until Halloween to raise money to secure a match for its Fill the Gap campaign.

The campaign is raising funds to support the center's nutrition program which provides on-site and home-delivered meals. The funds will make up a shortfall in government funding and to combat the rising cost of food, center director Lisa Bond said.

"As we move into the winter months, we are committed to making certain we are able to provide warm, nutritious meals for our senior community," Bond said. "SASi is a hub for senior connection, education and recreation."

The campaign, which began in early October, has until Oct. 31 to meet raise the funds. As of today, the center has raised $33,000. 

An anonymous donor has come forward with a commitment to match every dollar up to $20,000 donated for this event until the campaign ends, Bond said.

Sandpoint Area Seniors, Inc., which runs the center, prepares roughly 1,800 meals a month for the community's seniors. 

The center serves about 268 seniors each month on site and delivers the rest to seniors at the homes. The number of seniors who eat lunch at the center varies by day, ranging from between 20 to 50 or more.

For a meal, which typically costs $10-$12, the center had been getting about $4 in reimbursement in federal funding. The remainder of the meal's cost is made up with a $7 donation.

Care is taken to ensure the meals are both nutritious and delicious and about as far away from stodgy cafeteria meal as can be imagined. That care exists for both home-delivered meals and those served at the senior center.

Bond said previously that she hopes the support given to the community's youth programs will hold true for the other end of the spectrum with the community's senior population. And, contrary to a popular misconception, the center is for more than "old people."

"It is a place to hear stories and connect," Bond said. "It's a place to understand our history. My favorite thing is I sit at a different table every lunchtime so that I can hear the stories."

Some have lived here their entire lives; others moved here within the last few years, following their children or loving the beauty of the region. Some move away from an extensive network, while others find themselves alone after the death of a partner.

The meal programs give all seniors connection on multiple levels and that, Bond said, is just what she wants to see and underscores the critical importance of the program.

"My goal is to make the senior center the hub of all seniors and that's the young seniors and the old seniors and those of us who are still hiking and dancing and listening to Eric Clapton. I want it to be a welcoming place for a diverse population of aging folks and that we not look at aging as something we have to stay away from."

To donate checks can be sent to 820 Main Street, Sandpoint Idaho or call the center's front desk at 208-263-6860. Donation information can also be found online at sandpointareaseniors.org.