Opinion - Columns - Bill Morem

Published: Saturday, May. 30, 2009

Bill Morem: Feeding the hungry can feed your soul

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Some people find their life’s calling early, while others never get a chance to swing for the fences. Still others have a rewarding career and then find their bliss after retirement.

You can place 67-year-old Elias Nimeh firmly in the last category.

If you were a college student in San Luis Obispo between 1982 and 2003, you probably ate, drank or danced — or all three — at Tortilla Flats.

It was a popular nightclub owned by Nimeh and wife Ruth.

While still tending bar, Ruth took classes at the Santa Barbara School of Law, graduated and volunteered with the county’s family court for about five years; she was eventually hired.

“She loves to give advice,” said Nimeh. “I love listening to her when she’s talking: I work out of the heart and she works out of the brain.”

As to his days as proprietor of Tortilla Flats: “It was a great part of my life. It was good to work with Cal Poly students; the nightlife kept us young at heart, but I’m into a new part of my life that is more rewarding.”

And that’s being the director of the countywide Senior Nutrition Program for the past three years. He clearly relishes his latest incarnation and will actually tear up when talking about the program’s clients and the role food plays in their lives.

In sum, Senior Nutrition does exactly that: gives those 60 years and older a nutritious hot lunch daily, whether in their homes or in one of nine countywide sites, such as senior and community centers and churches.

Using kitchen facilities at the old General Hospital, some 600 meals are cooked early in the morning and taken to the above-mentioned sites.

A number of those meals are then delivered to homebound seniors along 30 routes throughout the county by a small army of some 200 volunteers.

“Our volunteers are precious,” says Nimeh. “A couple of months ago, we got a call from a volunteer who was delivering a meal to a homebound client. The husband-and-wife team had found that the woman had fallen but luckily wasn’t severely injured. The wife stayed with the client for the rest of the afternoon to make sure she was OK while the husband continued his deliveries.

“These volunteers are angels on wheels, gifts from heaven,” says Nimeh. “If we didn’t have volunteers, we’d be short about $250,000 annually and the program would collapse.”

As nutritious as the meals may be, there’s another nourishing aspect of the program: the soul-feeding opportunity to be among one’s peers.

“In addition to a meal, they get together to talk, or have dances or play cards. Sometimes we have blood screening, exercise classes or speakers from Cal Poly,” he explains. “We offer any variety of things to keep them active in their lives.”

In short, it’s an antidote to those he refers to as the “invisible people, people who never complain, never get out, never demand anything; they’re very proud.”

“Some cancel meals because they say they can’t afford it,” he adds. “I tell them, ‘You can’t cancel the meal because it’s free and the whole program is built around you.’ I have to convince them to stay with the program.”

Costs of the program are underwritten by cities, agencies, grants and fundraisers. The most recent fundraiser was May 16 at the Madonna Inn and raised somewhere between $45,000 to $60,000. Receipts are still rolling in.

That money will be used to buy provisions through the Food Bank of San Luis Obispo County.

“Money is always an issue for nonprofits, and we’re no different,” says Nimeh. “And all nonprofits need volunteers. If you’re looking for something to do, or lack direction, there’s nothing more satisfying than getting involved.”

Want to participate in the Senior Nutrition Program as either a recipient or volunteer? Call Nimeh at 541-3312. “You will have service instantly,” he said.

How To Help

Hunger Awareness Day will be held in San Luis Obispo County on Tuesday. The Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County is hoping that every resident can donate $1 to the cause of easing hunger in the county.

If everyone donated just $1 that day, the money raised would yield more than 2.5 million pounds of food to feed those in need.

For a list of donation sites, go online to slofoodbank.org or call 238-4664.

Reach Bill Morem at bmorem@thetribunenews.com, or at 781-7852.