The Second Chance Thrift Shop, the senior center's primary source of income, has grown rapidly over the past 5 years. As a result, the thrift shop has taken over nearly half of the building's space that was orginally intended for senior activities. At the same time, membership at the senior center continues to grow at a rapid pace with an expected 50 percent increase by the end of 2025.

"We are thrilled that our thrift shop has performed so well and are proud to say that our private nonprofit organization is able to self-fund the majority of our budget," said Dave Tosch, executive director. "However, the growth of our thrift shop has come at the cost of using much of our facilty to support thrift shop operations. We need more space to support our growing senior community, and we need a dedicated retail space to support the thrift shop. Since we already own our existing building and property outright, the most cost-effective, logical solution is for us to expand the building," said Tosch.

The senior center is fundraising locally to procure $400,000 in seed money toward a total estimated budget of $4 million needed to expand the building and renovate the existing facility. Additional funds to meet the capital improvement project budget will be raised through private, state and federal grants. "We are confident we can reach our fundraising goals, begin construction in the summer of 2025, and open our new thrift store space early in 2026," said Tosch. "Completing renovations for the rest of our building will take a bit longer. We hope to have our entire capital improvement project competed by the end of 2026."

Individuals and organizations interested in supporting the expansion project may make donations in person at the senior center or online at wenatcheeseniorcenter.com/donations.

WENATCHEE - The Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center is pleased to host the second annual Senior Health Fair on September 22, 2023 from 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. in the Senior Center Social Hall.

The free event is being organized by the North Central Regional Falls Coalition, a team of community stakeholders committed to improving the safety and well-being of our population. All members of the public are invited to attend.

According to the NCR Falls Coalition, falls are one of the leading causes of injury in our community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that approximately one in four adults aged 65 and older fall each year and 37% of falls result in injury. With injury comes loss of independence and ability to engage in important daily activities. In Washington State, approximately 31% of older adults fall annually. An increasing number of these falls result in death. 

WENATCHEE – The Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center has lowered the price of its lunch program to $5 to increase awareness and community engagement.

​The lunch program operates Tuesday through Friday and lunch is served promptly at noon in their social hall at 1312 Maple St., Wenatchee. To control costs, the center requires that participants RSVP at least one business day in advance. 

“One of our long-standing commitments at the senior center is to provide an affordable, well-balanced lunch to our senior community,” said Dave Tosch, executive director. “There are many seniors in our community on fixed incomes who are at risk of food insecurity. We want to make sure that everyone, regardless age or income, has access to a hot meal four days a week.”

"We've been listening to feedback from our current and former lunch attendees. They've also asked us to include more fresh vegetables, like salads, and they want dessert," said Tosch. "We're making these changes, along with lowering our price from $7 to $5, to bring more people in to try our lunch program."