EAGLE, Idaho — The Eagle Kiwanis Club donated 57 Instant Pots to seniors living at Mercy Housing, a nonprofit providing affordable, safe living for low-income seniors in Eagle and Boise.
The final delivery happened Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Housing's Boise location. Resident services coordinator Ellie Giffin said the goal is to make cooking easier.
"My residents are very excited to get started with them," Giffin said.
She said many seniors living at Mercy Housing live off social security and do not prioritize making healthy food. That can lead to seniors skipping meals or eliminating healthy foods.
"Oftentimes, food becomes one of the last things that they're buying for themselves because they have other bills that they need to pay,' Giffin said.
All 57 of the Instant Pots cost about $5,000, President Pete Dover said. A lot of the money came from community members. The Kiwanis Club donated the rest.
Although Dover ran all around the Treasure Valley trying to buy all the appliances, he said the hard work was worth it.
"The residences that were there that were getting them, their faces just basically lit up," Dover said, "and that was really cool to see."
Giffin said she will run cooking classes for all the seniors who got Instant Pots. Seniors will start making meals after learning the basics about how to use and care for the appliance.
She said the lessons will also be recorded so seniors can refer back to them.
Food from the program comes from the Eagle Community Foodbank, President Lisa Lavin said. Volunteers with the Kiwanis Club drop ingredients off at the Mercy Housing locations twice a month.
Some common ingredients seniors with Instant Pots will learn to incorporate into meals include canned potatoes, beans and eggs. Lavin said just getting started is sometimes the hardest part of taking care of yourself.
"Whether they come in to get food or we send food, sometimes you go, 'Well, I've got six cans, what can I do with it? Right? So, Instant Pots are a very easy way for seniors to make a meal for themselves," she said.
Lavin said a lot of seniors who are food insecure suffer in silence. About 300 to 400 people use the Eagle foodbank. Of that number, 30% are seniors.
She said a lot of seniors are afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. She encourages people to check on the seniors in their lives to ensure they have enough food and know easy ways to cook for themselves.
There are various foodbank drop-off sites around Eagle and Boise for people interested in giving back.
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