Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, May 16, 2020

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Mountain View News Saturday, May 16, 2020 


GROCERY AND MEAL 

SERVICE DELIVERY OPTIONS 
FOR SENIORS SHELTERING IN 
PLACE

Dear Savvy Senior:

Can you recommend some good grocery and/or meal service delivery options for seniors? My 78-year-
old mother has always shopped for herself, but since the coronavirus pandemic hit the grocery store 
shelves are always half empty, and she’s getting more fearful of leaving the house. Parent Helper

Dear Helper:

There are numerous grocery and meal service delivery options available to help seniors stay safe 
at home during this pandemic, but what’s available to your mom will depend on her location 
and budget. You should also be aware that because of demand, many grocery and meal delivery 
services are overwhelmed right now, so some services in your mom’s area may be greatly delayed 
or temporarily unavailable. That said, here are some good options to look into.

Grocery Delivery Services

Today, there are a variety of websites and apps that allow you or your mom to shop for groceries 
and other household goods without having to step foot inside a store.

Most of these services offer memberships (fees usually run around $100/year), which will get you 
or your mom free deliveries on orders over $30 or $35. Or, they’ll charge a flat delivery fee, which 
typically cost around $8 to $10.

Depending on where your mom lives there are numerous grocery delivery services like Instacart 
(instacart.com) and Shipt (shipt.com), which work with a wide variety of grocery retailers, including 
national and local chains and are widely available throughout the U.S. They use independent-
contractor shopper/drivers to pick up orders in stores and deliver them to you.

You should also check into Walmart’s online grocery delivery or pick-up service (grocery.walmart.
com), which is available in hundreds of locations across the U.S.; Amazon Prime Now (primenow.
amazon.com), which is offered in many U.S. cities; Peapod (peapod.com) that’s available in 
24 metro markets; and FreshDirect (freshdirect.com) which serves the New York, Philadelphia 
and Washington D.C. areas and a few other select cities in the northeast.

Meal Delivery Services

If your mom still enjoys cooking, another convenient option to consider is meal kit delivery services 
like Home Chef (homechef.com), Sun Basket (sunbasket.com) or HelloFresh (hellofresh.
com).

Meal kits are subscription-based services that will send your mom a box containing fresh, pre-
portioned ingredient items for that kit’s recipe. All she’ll need to do is combine the ingredients 
(some chopping, and slicing may be required) and cook it. Most meal kit services run between 
$8 and $12 per meal.

Or, if your mom wants a break from cooking, a great alternative is to set her up with a ready-
made meal delivery service like Mom’s Meals (momsmeals.com) or Silver Cuisine (silvercuisine.
com). Both of these companies, which cater to older adults, offer a wide variety of healthy, fully 
prepared meal choices (just heat and eat), that accommodate a host of dietary needs for those 
managing diabetes or needing heart-friendly and/or lower-sodium meal options.

Mom’s Meals, which run $7 per meal plus delivery, arrive fresh and will last up to 14 days in the 
refrigerator. Silver Cuisine meals are delivered frozen and cost $12 or $13 per meal.

You should also find out if there’s a senior home delivery meal program in your mom’s area. Meals 
on Wheels is the largest program that most people are familiar with, but many communities offer 
similar programs sponsored by other organizations that go by different names.

To find services available in your mom’s area, visit MealsOnWheelsAmerica.org, which offers a 
comprehensive directory on their website.

Most home delivered meal programs across the U.S. deliver hot meals daily or several times a 
week, usually around the lunch hour, to seniors over age 60. Weekend meals, usually frozen, may 
also be available, along with special diets (diabetic, low-sodium, kosher, etc.). Most of these programs 
typically charge a small fee (usually between $2 and $6) or request a donation, while some 
may be free to low-income seniors.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim 
Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …May Birthdays*

Beth Copti, Marilyn Diaz, Anne Schryver, Jo Ann Williams, Paul Hagan, Lenore 
Crilly Joann Serrato-Chi, Harriett Lyle, Jean Coleman, Birgitta Gerlinger, Donna 
Mathieson, Luciana Rosenzweig, Linda Wochnik, Marian Woodford, Debbie 
Sheridan, Joanne Anthony, Carole Axline, Kika Downey, Shirley Hall, Annie Scalzo, 
Janet Ten Eyck, Jane Thomas, Ray Burley.

 * To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 
626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required 


SIERRA MADRE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

1. Community Services Department will continue email communication with Senior residents and aging 
community members. If you know of family members or neighbors who may benefit from accessing 
information electronically, and to receive the department’s Senior Moments Newsletter via email 
but may not otherwise have been included on the email group, please send your request with email 
address to the following team members: Lawren Heinz at lheinz@cityofsierramadre.com or Clarissa 
Lowe at clowe@cityofsierramadre.com 

2. Community Services Department will continue Electronic Seniors Newsletter on a weekly-basis 
distribution. 

3. Community Services Department will continue with mail drop-off of newsletters at the Sierra Madre 
U.S. Post Office Box (unless otherwise advised). 

4. City Social Media will continue via Facebook as well as Instagram, and information sharing will 
include updates as details becomes available. 

5. Mater Dolorosa - Sierra Madre Meal Pick-Up Program provides seal-packaged frozen meals, 5-per 
person every 

Thursday, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at Hart Park House Senior Center 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Donations 
are accepted. 

Call (626) 355-7394. 

6. YWCA Intervale Meal Program - Effective Wednesday, April 1, 2020 

YWCA has transitioned their distribution of take home meals at the Sierra Madre Hart Park House 
Senior Center to a home-delivery meal program. 

Participants previously reserved for meal pick-up as of Wednesday, 3/25/20 were informed that they 
would begin to have their meals delivered to their homes, beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2020 until 
further notice. 

For any additional participants calling in that are at a high risk and need meals delivered to, please 
provide us their name, date of birth (they must be 60+), address and phone number and Community 
Services Department will forward this information to our County Contact. 

NIXLE Alerts which send messages through public safety agencies via cell phones and social media 
networks will be issued through the Sierra Madre Police Department. This enables local response agencies 
to get that information into the community as quickly as possible. VOICE TO TEXT messages 
from Police Department will further offer automatic pre-recorded voice messages that reach approximately 
4,000 phones within our community. Social Media platforms will include direct phone numbers 
provided by PD to the pre-recorded messages for accessibility. 

Anyone interested in receiving the NIXLE alerts may do so from their mobile phone: 

hit 888-777 and follow the prompts. OR go to Nixle.com and do the same. For non-emergency help or 
guidance on Nixle, please call 626-355-1414. 

Sierra Madre Channel 3 will provide information and what the city is doing for the Senior Community, 
including transportation and food services. 

Currently, Sierra Madre transit support has been operating in accordance with our regular schedule 
and will continue as such. Extra precautions are being taken with the sanitization and cleaning of buses 
due to the recent circumstances. 

Pasadena Senior Center, has also provided a resource, Telephone Reassurance Program, which offers 
daily calls to home bound seniors to provide support and contact with others on a regular basis. If any 
senior, in this time of emergency, finds themselves home bound and needs to talk with someone, please 
refer them to 

(626) 685-6732 and they are available Monday – Friday from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


GETTING LEGAL DOCUMENTS 
SIGNED DURING COVID -- 
ANOTHER REASON TO NOT 
GO IT ALONE

Wills, trusts, health care directives, powers of attorney, and 
legal guardian nominations are on many of our hearts and 
minds as COVID-19 compels us to face our own fragility 
and mortality.

It’s not as if we didn’t already know we are all mortal, but within our current reality, 
that mortality becomes all the more real. And one way to feel some control over what’s 
happening out there is to make sure we all have our legal affairs in order at home. That 
way, if something does happen to us, our families aren’t left with a big legal mess to clean 
up while they are grieving.

If you are trying to get your financial house in order right now, you may be just getting 
some basic documents in place. You may even be doing it yourself. 

If that’s the case, it’s very important for you to know that the cost of a failed plan can 
be very high for the people you love. Plus, if your documents are not properly signed, 
they will not work—period. End of story. And if your documents don’t work, your family 
could be stuck in court or conflict, which is probably the exact thing you want to avoid by 
handling your estate planning now.

There are many ways plans fail, but one of the worst ways we see is when someone starts 
a plan and doesn’t get it signed properly. You do not want this to happen to your family, 
trust me. If you care enough about estate planning, you will want to make sure your plan 
will work when your family needs it.

That means you need to make sure your legal documents are actually signed and signed in 
the right way. Some legal documents require two witnesses, and some require notarization; 
however, in today’s social-distancing reality, these signatures could be difficult to come by. 
Some states have allowed remote notarization, California for some reason, has not. 

While we understand you likely have a desire to get documents in place now, we also 
believe there is going to be a significant increase in conflict and litigation because of DIY 
estate planning documents for the future. Don’t let that happen to the people you love. 

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth 
and defining your legacy,

A local attorney and father, Marc Garlett is on a mission to 
help parents protect what they love most. 

His office is located at 55 Auburn Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 

Schedule an appointment to sit down and talk about ensuring a legacy of love and 
financial security for your family by calling 626.355.4000 or visit www.CaliLaw.com for 
more information.

LOVE BUGS ARE REALLY NOT THAT LOVING!

Here in Florida, we have what people call "Love Bugs." I know exactly why they are 
called “Love Bugs,” but I am not fond of these little critters. Why don’t they just get 
a motel room?

Being shut down at home for quite a while it is not that exciting. You can only be shut 
down for so long. On Tuesday, I needed to go across town for some quick business and office supplies. 
It would not take me long, and I would get back home in a short time. “Anything you want me to pick 
up while I’m out?” I queried the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. I always like to try to help whenever 
I can. She is a great shopper, particularly a great thrift store shopper. She knows every thrift shop 
within a 100-mile radius, but more than that, they know her by her first name. I, on the other side of 
the room, am not a very good shopper.

Quite a few times, my wife has sent me to the store with a list, and I could never get everything on that 
list. I do not know why, but I would miss two or three items on her list. I am not saying because the list 
was too long, that is probably the reason, but I am not saying it. Knowing this, my wife shot back to 
me, "No, I can't think of anything I'd like you to pick up. Drive carefully." I sighed a deep sigh of relief, 
knowing that now I was not going to get into any kind of trouble.

Not many places are open this time because of the shutdown, so I did not have many choices. Therefore, 
I just did what I was supposed to do as quickly as possible and headed back home. Please, do not let this 
get out to, you-know-who, but I did go through a drive-through and picked up some very delicious ice 
cream. I enjoyed it all the way home. For me, ice cream is much more delicious when nobody knows 
you’re eating it. I almost got home when out of nowhere came a big dark cloud that hit my truck in the 
front as I have never been hit before. At first, I thought it was the apocalypse.

When I got through it, I realized I had hit, or rather, they hit me, a group of “Love Bugs” and were 
smeared all over my window and the front part of my truck. I used to have a silver truck, now it was 
just about all black, at least in the front. I know they are "Love Bugs," but at that time, I did not feel any 
kind of love toward them. I was feeling the exact opposite, but I will not mention it.

When I walked in through the front door at home, my wife saw I was more agitated than ever. I even 
slammed the door behind me, which indicated how aggravated I was. “What happened?” I just looked 
at my wife and then said, "Those lousy Love Bugs attacked me as I was driving, and they're all over my 
truck. I'm never going to get them off." With that, I went, got a bucket of water, and tried to clean them 
off my truck.

I noticed my wife was smiling as I left and said to me, “You should drive more carefully.” Then she 
snickered. I hate it when she snickers. No matter how hard I worked to get those bugs off my truck, I 
could not get them all off. It was a dark reminder of bug love. When I walked in, my wife said, "Well, 
did you get them all off your truck?" Then she gave me one of her infamous snickers.

Throughout the day, when she looked at me, she was snickering.

The next morning my wife had to go down to the store to get a few groceries. As she shut the door behind 
her, she said to me, “I guess I’m going to have to drive carefully.” Then she snickered again.

A little over an hour later, she returned, and when she came in the door, I noticed something was 
wrong. I asked her if anything was wrong, and all she said, "No, nothing’s wrong. I’ll take care of it.”

I knew by her demeanor, something was wrong, and something she really did not want me to know. 
That perked my curiosity. In a few minutes, I looked out the window and there she was with a bucket 
of water washing the front of her van. I had my suspicions, which proved correct.

When she came in the front door, I was waiting for her and said, “Any Love Bug problem?” With that, 
I not only snickered, but I laughed out loud hilariously. “Maybe,” I said between laughing, “you should 
drive a little more carefully.” Her stare informed me that she did not think it was funny, which made it 
even funnier for me. Thinking about that, I remembered what the prophet Amos once said. “Can two 
walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). 

 Walking together on the same pathway, we experience the same thing. Sometimes we forget that, I 
know I do. I am learning not to criticize other people for what they’re going through at the time because 
I may go through that same experience tomorrow.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com