CASEY: ‘Secret weapons’ in Soup for Seniors food drive bid goodbye to Roanoke Valley (2024)

You probably haven’t yet heard about the impressive results for the annual wintertime food drive known as Soup for Seniors.

This year’s goal was 45,000 pounds of shelf-stable food, distributed to low-income seniors so they wouldn’t have to skip meals to make a heating bill payment or purchase medicine.

Residents of the Roanoke Valley responded by contributing tons of canned or boxed food and $16,447 in cash, which was used to purchase even more food. In all, it translated into 49,271 pounds of shelf-stable food distributed to 2,882 seniors in need.

The program overshot its 2024 goal by more than two tons of food, which is a huge success.

“Thank you to everyone who held their own canned food drives to donate to Soup for Seniors — including the local churches, schools, and businesses — and all who donated food, time, or dollars to help,” said Ron Boyd, CEO and president of the LOA.

Another person thrilled by the outcome was Barbara James, who founded Soup for Seniors in 2007. At the time, she worked full time for the LOA from Melrose Towers, the senior housing complex, as director of the LOA’s Foster Grandparents and Senior Companion programs.

That year, James worked with this newspaper’s then-metro columnist, Shanna Flowers, to spread the word about Soup for Seniors. James conceived it after then-President George W. Bush challenged Americans to find ways to make a difference in their communities.

The initial goal was modest — collecting 3,000 cans of soup, as colder temps set in, and distributing those as emergency rations to low-income seniors. But that year, generous donors gave just more than 32,000 cans, plus more than 4,000 boxes of crackers — plus more than $20,000 in cash.

Among those 2007 donors were Ralph and Diane Owen, who’d recently moved to the Roanoke Valley from Northern Virginia. James told me the retired couple became a “secret weapon” that helped make Soup for Seniors a rousing success in future years, too.

Ralph was a retired postmaster from Loudoun County — the Ashburn Post Office was his domain. Diane’s career was in local government — she worked as a tax collections supervisor in Northern Virginia. They and their adult son, Brad (now 50) who has Down syndrome, moved to the Roanoke Valley nearly 18 years ago.

In the fall of 2007, Ralph Owen showed up at Melrose Towers one day with a Soup for Seniors donation, James said.

“The very first year of Soup for Seniors, he came in carrying two cases of soup and a case of crackers, because he’d read the column by Shanna Flowers,” James recalled. He also gave James $100 cash, she said.

“Later that day he returned,” James added. “He said, ‘My wife said I didn’t give you enough.’ He handed me three more $100 bills.”

She invited the Owens to join the Melrose Towers Advisory Council, which they did. And ever since, the couple have become regular volunteers at the senior high-rise.

Over the years, they also became close with James, who’s 79. Though she retired from the LOA in 2010, she returned to work at Melrose Towers in 2014, part-time for the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority. And she still holds that position.

When Melrose Towers needed someone to play Santa at Christmastime, Ralph Owen would don “the most beautiful Santa costume you’ve ever seen,” James said. He’d bring gifts for residents, too.

One year, he bought T-shirts for major Soup for Seniors donors, paying out of his own pocket, James said. On another occasion, Owens was at Melrose Towers when he learned a microwave it its community kitchen went kaput.

“Ralph said, ‘I’ll be right back.’ I thought he was going to the bathroom or something,” James said. A while later, he returned with a new microwave for the community-room kitchen … He’s just a really generous spirit.”

Last Tuesday, the Owens appeared at Melrose Towers for what may have been their final visit.

It was a hot dog luncheon for roughly 130 people. The Owens bought all the food — chips, drinks and some 260 hot dogs and buns. Ralph also personally prepared 24 pounds of homemade chili, James said.

The lunch gave them a chance to say goodbye to the Melrose Towers residents with whom they’ve become acquainted over the past 18 years.

For health and family reasons the Owens are moving to Fredericksburg. In part, that’s because Diane is suffering from dementia. In Fredericksburg, they’ll be closer to their daughter and granddaughters in Northern Virginia. They’ll also be closer to Brad, who’s now being cared for by Ralph and Diane’s daughter.

The Owens recently closed on the sale of their home in the Hollins area. In preparing for the move, they realized they had three flat-screen TVs they no longer needed. Of course, those ended up at Melrose Towers, too.

James made a list of each tenant in the nine-story building who lacked a television. To each she gave a raffle-type ticket and they held drawing. Now three more apartments at Melrose Towers sport televisions, courtesy of the Owens.

I couldn’t make the goodbye luncheon because of a previous commitment. But I caught up with Ralph Owen by telephone later. (Their moving date was Monday.)

“Soup for Seniors is what led us [to Melrose Towers],” Owen told me. “But Barbara James is what kept us there.”

Owen grew up in Steubenville, Ohio, a steel town just a stone’s throw west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father died suddenly when Owen was a young boy. And that left his family struggling and often hungry.

“When I grew up, we had very little,” he recalled. “We ate Spam, cheese, and powdered milk,” stuff that often came from food banks and pantries. After high school, Owen spent four years in the U.S. Navy as a postal clerk.

After his service in the military, he landed a job with the U.S. Postal Service, which offers preferential hiring to veterans. And over many years, he worked his way up to postmaster in Ashburn. But Owen hasn’t forgotten his roots and those struggles.

“We’ve been blessed financially, for people who didn’t plan, with great retirements,” Owen told me. He and Diane felt the urge to give back, which is why they got involved in volunteering at Melrose Towers.

“I just hope that more people get involved,” Owen said Friday. “It’s not just Melrose Towers. There are other places, such as Morningside Manor,” the senior complex in southeast Roanoke.

To volunteer, “you don’t have to have any money. You can plant flowers, hold a choir session — people love to sing. The people are SO appreciative. They’re amazing.”

There’s another way you can support needy seniors that’s coming up, too. It will cost only $20. That’s the price tickets to the LOA’s annual fundraiser to support Meals on Wheels. It’s al luncheon, dating to 1991, known as Let’s Give Lunch.

Your money covers a box lunch plus a (nonalcoholic) drink and dessert. The profits from each ticket will cover the cost of at least two future Meals on Wheels deliveries.

This year Let’s Give Lunch is Friday, June 21 at North Roanoke Baptist Church, 6402 Peters Creek Road. Tickets are available now, at loaa.org/events/letsgivelunch

On that same web page, there’s a link where you can sign up to volunteer, or buy tickets for an associated raffle.

Last year, the LOA cleared $53,000 after expenses for the food. And that covered the cost of delivering hundreds of Meals on Wheels.

If you attend, you might want to raise your drink and offer a toast to Ralph and Diane Owen and the many years they spent helping fellow seniors at Melrose Towers.