RENO — At a time when government budget problems are leaving all citizens with a little extra to worry about, some local senior citizens will be left wondering how they will simply make up for lost meals or get from here to there.

Nutrition and socialization were just two of the issues that Washoe County Senior Services workers and volunteers talked about on Friday as they hosted a lunch to kick off festivities for Older Americans Month and the local version of the Senior Games athletic competition.

About 150 seniors ate enchilada casserole and listened to mariachi music at the Neil Road Recreation Center to socialize, sign up for the games and generally get out of the house — the latter being an issue that social workers worry about with the older population.

“We have entirely too many shut-ins,” said Laurie Altheide, assistant to the director of Washoe County Senior Services.

Altheide said many shut-ins receive meals delivered to their homes through various programs, but even free food available for needy seniors is being outstripped by demand. Last week, she said, 75 people had to be turned away from the food pantry’s monthly food giveaway because the 400 bags of groceries were gone by 8 a.m. She said 225 seniors are fed a reduced-cost lunch every day at the Reno Senior Center alone and another 600 meals are delivered each month.

Another concern is with the number of professionals available to help seniors, Altheide said. The free legal services of the Senior Law Project are backed up because of foreclosure mitigation, she said, and the Daybreak senior adult care service also has a waiting list. Daybreak is a licensed drop-off care service where caregivers such as an adult child can take a senior parent or grandparent to be cared for while they go to work.

Altheide said in her five years with senior services there has always been a waiting list. There are also too few social workers to work all the cases that pile up at senior services.

“My fear is with social workers spread so thin people will fall through the cracks,” she said. “When people fall through the cracks, it’s tragic.”

The festivities for Older Americans Month also has shrunk, she continued. There used to be an event each day but now they try to do one a week. The month’s marquee event is the Spring, Swing, Fling on May 2, featuring dancing to live swing music by the Erika Paul Carlson Trio and a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Lifescapes senior writing project.

The dance will be held at Idlewild Park in Reno, which brings up the issue of transportation for seniors who can no longer or maybe who have never driven a car.

To help with this issue, at 9 a.m. on May 25 at the new Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) Centennail Plaza bus station in Sparks there will be a free Senior Adventures Fair to provide information on using the bus system. RTC marketing administrator Christine Campbell said one of the highlights of the fair will be the senior fare ID cards introduced in October 2009. These passes will show RTC drivers that passengers were born before Jan. 1, 1950 and therefore qualify for a discounted fare. That date is a change from the previous senior fare, which was only for persons over age 60.

RTC staff will let seniors apply for the pass and give them information on riding with wheelchair, talk about changes to routes and introduce them overall to riding buses.

City and county government entities will also participate in the RTC fair, Campbell said, because they had to cancel their own fairs during Older Americans Month due to budget constraints. In all, 21 different organizations will be represented at the May 25 fair in Sparks. Senior services spokesman Bob Harmon said not only are budgets shrinking, the number of seniors is growing at the same time. With the burgeoning number of seniors, he said, it is important to keep them active and healthy so they can continue to be independent and not require more of the the ever-dwindling resources.

“(Older Americans Months also) provides a sense of purpose by being a vital part of the community. All that helps support the population and keep them (at home) where they want to be,” Harmon said. “Then Senior Services can focus on the most vulnerable.”

For more information, go to www.co.washoe.nv.us/seniorsrv or www.reno.gov.