Mary Stevens/Daily Mining Gazette Kathleen Harter and Kevin Store answer questions about Copper Shores' upcoming millage request during an information session at the Portage Lake District Library on Wednesday. 

HOUGHTON — The Copper Shores Community Health Foundation, Wednesday, hosted the first of several scheduled information sessions on its upcoming millage request. The request will be on the Aug. 5 Michigan Primary ballot. Kevin Store, CEO of Cooper Shores, made it clear the organization’s intent is not to tell attendees how to vote, but simply to answer their questions. “Hopefully all of us on all sides of the table will leave here a little more enlightened,” Store said. “There’s a lot of speculation and rumors and this and that going on … we’re here to answer honestly … it’s really important that if you have questions, you ask them.”

The millage, if passed, would bring in an estimated 1.3 million dollars to Copper Shores for its Meals on Wheels program. This will cost the average Houghton County household about $45 a year, which Store equated to “one twenty ounce bottle of Mountain Dew from the Holiday” a month.

Meals on Wheels serves roughly 300 seniors in Houghton and Keweenaw Counties. The current funding, which includes a grant from the Upper Peninsula Commission for Area Progress (UPCAP), federal funds, and participant donations, has not been enough to keep up with Meals on Wheels’ program costs. After the cost of meals increased by 300% during the COVID pandemic, Copper Shores has been subsidizing the extra funds needed, approximately one million dollars a year.

Store explained that even if Copper Shores spends more of their fairly large endowment to keep Meals on Wheels running, they would not be able to provide other services, such as poverty programs.

“I’ve had a lot of people say ‘You have all this money, and you have 76 million dollars in the bank,’ which is where we’re at, but if I just spent that, we wouldn’t be able to do all the things that…everybody’s glad we’re doing.” Store said.

Kathleen Harter, the director of Copper Shores’ Meals on Wheels program, also shared some statistics that showed why the meal delivery service is so crucial. According to Harter, one in four seniors in Houghton County are facing hunger.

Harter also explained that the Meals on Wheels delivery drivers help to alleviate the loneliness many seniors face. 42% of those who responded to the Meals on Wheels survey said their delivery driver is the only person they see all day. The program’s Meat and Eat sites also help with this, where seniors can go to a meet-up point and share a meal with others.

In 2024, Meals on Wheels provided over 94,000 meals in Houghton County. If the millage passes, it will only support these services in Houghton County. Store is hoping that if the millage is successful, Copper Shores will be able to request another millage in Keweenaw County.

“The plan at this point is to demonstrate that this is effective, and then at that point we would look at a millage in Keweenaw County as well.” Store said.

He also explained that if the millage passes, the tax money will be levied and received by the county, and then reallocated to Copper Shores. In exchange, Copper Shores will provide progress reports and audited financials that show the money is being used appropriately.

Finally, Store made it clear that this was a local effort to support the community.

“I’m not a MAGA Trumper, but I don’t like big government.” he said. “When I look at all of these ballot initiatives … this is a need that exists in our community. It isn’t some random tax coming from Washington D.C. or Lansing … We’re asking the voters, does this … merit enough support, or generate enough interest and support in our community?”

To read Copper Shores’ official statement on the millage proposal and see the schedule of the sixteen remaining information sessions, visit coppershores.org/support-seniors.