During these tough economic times senior citizens in the village of Chaseburg are being forced to accept yet another cutback, when the Vernon County mealsite program ceases to provide meals in the community of 300 at the end of the year, although all homebound deliveries currently in place will continue countywide.

According to village of Chaseburg clerk/treasurer Linda DeGarmo the village was informed by the Vernon County Unit on Aging that the program would no longer be available to village residents after Dec. 31, 2008 and anyone utilizing the program in Chaseburg could still participate in a county operated mealsite, but they would have to travel to an alternative location in Coon Valley or Stoddard to participate.

“With a zero budget increase in 2009, we had to make concessions to keep the program viable, including closing the Chaseburg mealsite,” Pat Peterson, the Vernon County Unit on Aging Director said.

DeGarmo, who also operates the Tippy Toe restaurant in Chaseburg with her husband, Marvin, where the county meals are currently served, has refused to stop providing meals for the elderly members of her community and is bucking the economic trend of watching programs disappear without an alternative option available. Instead DeGarmo will continue to provide meals for village seniors at a reduced rate and operate her own program off her own menu.

“We serve an average of 20 mealsite participants a day, who might otherwise go hungry. I’m not about to let that happen. We will continue to provide participants with a nutritious meal, at a reasonable price, but we’ll just operate off our own menu,” DeGarmo said.

DeGarmo was concerned that when the program ended some of the participants would just go without if they weren’t part of the homebound delivery network. By providing her own program, without any county assistance, DeGarmo believes that at least residents who don’t have a way to get to places like Coon Valley or Stoddard will continue to have a warm meal if they choose to.

“Our community is in the midst of so many changes that if we don’t look out for one another, who will? This is something I feel needs to continue in Chaseburg and now it will,” DeGarmo said.