By the time the dinner crowd settles in at St. Luke’s University Health Network’s Upper Bucks Campus, the tables are full; not just with plates of food, but with easy conversation and community joy, writes Matteo Iadonisi for 6abc.

The network’s senior meals program, open to adults 65 and older, offers a complete meal for $3.99, including an entrée, salad, dessert, and a drink.

But for many regulars, what keeps them coming back has little to do with the food.

On top of food security and financial relief, the program addresses something else hospitals don’t always talk about: loneliness.

One regular, Anthony Kulp, said the social atmosphere is one of the main reasons he keeps returning.

For Memduha Bobiak, a former St. Luke’s nurse, it’s also about support. She attends the daily meals with her husband, who is managing Parkinson’s disease.

Hospital officials say the initiative grew as too many seniors in the community were being forced to choose between buying food and paying for medications.

“We found that a lot of the community members here were making choices between medications and food and other things,” said Dennis Pfleiger, president of St. Luke’s Quakertown and Upper Bucks campus.

“So this was a great way for St. Luke’s to step into the community and help those seniors out.”

The senior meals program now runs throughout the St. Luke’s network, including locations in Northampton, Schuylkill, and Lehigh Counties.

What started as a response to food insecurity has quietly become, for many regulars, a true highlight of their day.

Learn more about the senior meals program at St. Luke’s University Health Network at 6abc.

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