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Bookended by chair yoga in the late morning and bingo in the early afternoon, the Wednesday lunch program at Casa Maria in San Juan Bautista offers seniors a healthy, affordable meal and a chance to learn more about important issues that impact an aging population.
“Feeding people brings friendship,” Sasha Galdos, who selects the menus and supervises the cooking, said. “It brings good conversation and brings community. And I didn’t realize how much it would fulfill my soul to be here helping.”
Funded by a project grant from the Community Foundation for San Benito County and occasional donations, the lunches are sponsored by the Mary Velasco Sellen Senior Center.
For Galdos, planning and preparing the lunches is part of a family tradition she traces back to helping her grandmother—and the center’s namesake— Mary Velasco Sellen.
“My grandma lived four doors down from us,” she said, “And starting around when I was six, I would come over during the summer and learn how to cook Mexican food and all sorts of things.”
Sellen, known in the community for her generosity and as a perpetual volunteer, also provided an example to Galdos of a life of service.
“She would go to the food bank,” Galdos said, “and get groceries for people here in San Juan. We would have to get out of the car and deliver the bags. As kids, we didn’t want to do it, but I think that instilled in us a need to give back.”
The program started in March 2023, with Galdos serving the lunches at her home to about a dozen people. It quickly grew, and now as many as 60 seniors might show up on any given Wednesday.
“We come from big families,” she said, “so I think we’re kind of used to cooking for large-scale family parties. So it doesn’t take much to put something together for 50 to 100 people.”
She considers herself versatile in many cuisines, including American, Mexican, Asian, and Italian. She supplements her own knowledge by searching online for other recipes to assess nutritional information and keep lunches healthy.
“I like to have the facts,” Galdos said, “so if anyone were to ask how many calories or what the salt or fat content is, I would be able to tell them. I try to serve healthy, warm meals for seniors that otherwise wouldn’t be able to cook for themselves.”
A full-time nurse, Galdos uses her day off on Tuesdays to do all of the shopping, relying heavily on the Community FoodBank of San Benito, which allows her to place orders in advance. Her menus reflect what is available, which is supplemented by trips to Costco or Smart and Final.
“I like to try to find where all the sales are in bulk so I can feed everyone,” she said. “There is nothing frozen and nothing imitation. Just real whole food.”
The lunch menus in October have included chicken fettuccini Alfredo, stuffed bell peppers and chicken noodle soup. Each lunch comes with salad or a vegetable and dessert.
The lunch I attended on Oct. 22 consisted of a nicely grilled steak, a baked potato, green beans and a dinner roll. Coffee and bottled water were also available.
Kathy Flores has been a regular at Casa Maria lunches for about a year and said she found out about the program literally by accident.
“I broke my leg about a year ago,” she said, “and I needed to get back into an exercise routine. I heard about chair yoga, so I came and stayed for lunch. The menus are very healthy, and I love healthy.”
Flores said she was equally impressed by the food —her favorites are the albondigas and the baked ziti—and the restaurant-quality presentation.
“Everything is fantastic,” she said. “It’s all prepared fresh the day you sit down and eat. The tables are set with flowers and tablecloths. And the portion sizes are just right for seniors.”
Galdos’ mother (and Sellen’s daughter), Karen Stacy, has been there from the start, when they were serving meals at home. It was a chance remark from Father Alberto Cabrera, pastor of Mission San Juan Bautista, to Stacy that proved key to moving to this larger location.
“Father had asked, ‘What’s taken you so long to ask me for Casa Maria?’” Stacy said. “He told us we were more than welcome to use it, so since July of that first year, we have been here. And it’s grown and grown and we keep just growing.”
Stacy said it was a point of pride that all unused ingredients and leftover food find a home by the end of lunch.
“Whatever we don’t use,” she said, “we place in the center of the facility, and the seniors can take what they need. And we are grateful that nothing is wasted and nothing is thrown away.”
One feature of the lunches is a weekly guest speaker or theme; recent Wednesdays have featured a senior health fair and free flu shots.
Marleen Trujillo, the Center’s activities coordinator, said she likes to focus on issues such as senior health, medications, insurance, and life skills. One of her particular areas of interest is personal, arising from having to be the caregiver for her husband.
“All I can tell you is you got to do it to understand it,” she said. “This sounds terrible, but at times I thought I would rather be the sick one than the caregiver. I learned a lot and I focus on it because it is so important.”
Trujillo also organizes the chair yoga classes, which have recently morphed into occasional line-dancing lessons.
“We like to do a little cardio,” she said. “It is hilarious. We are having so much fun. I am going to be looking into new activities for November, including doing simple lunches on Thursdays, like sandwiches, chips, and cookies.”
Trujillo said she has been very pleased to be able to provide these activities for local seniors and is gratified that many keep coming back week after week.
“I know that I’m doing 100% of what I want to do for them,” she said, “and that’s to make them happy. We are expanding their mental and physical health and their engagement with each other. It just puts a smile on my face.”
The lunch program takes place every Wednesday at Casa Maria, 600 First St in San Juan Bautista. The doors open at 11:30 a.m. following chair yoga, which starts at 11:15 a.m. Lunch is served at noon, and on Oct. 29, it will be pork loin with mashed potatoes. (Donations are requested.)
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
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