City leadership has expanded the number of seniors who will have access to fresh, healthy food through the Federal Way Farmers Market Healthy Seniors Voucher Program.

There will now be 60 vouchers available instead of the prior 36, and the value of each voucher has been increased from $6 to $10, according to a decision at the Aug. 12 meeting of the Federal Way City Council.

The policy question considered at council was initially a much smaller amount — a request of $504 in additional funding for the program to bring the number of weekly vouchers up to 50 for the last months of the 2025 market season.

While $6 may not seem like a lot, Federal Way Farmers Market Assistant Manager Vickie Chynoweth described the impact of the vouchers and the seriousness of the need, telling the council that right now, 15 to 20 seniors are turned away each week.

She also shared that they typically run out of vouchers just a half-hour after the market’s opening every Saturday, with seniors lining up before the market even opens to access their coupon.

Amy Glandon supports the Federal Way Senior Advisory Commission, and shared a story of a community member she met through the commission meetings who received the coupons.

Glandon said the woman had met with her to share how excited she was that she had gotten two tomatoes, a carrot and a watermelon for the week using the $6 voucher.

“For me, like two carrots or a carrot and two tomatoes and a watermelon for my boys is hardly even a snack, let alone something to last them a week. And this lasted her for her week and it really helped take some pressure off,” Glandon said.

After hearing about the level of need and the impact of the healthy eating program, the council and Mayor Jim Ferrell worked together to contribute a total of $4,224.

These funds will be made up of $2,224 from the Senior Advisory Commission’s restricted fund and $2,000 from the mayor’s budget.

Healthy eating program

The healthy eating program began in May 2025 with funding from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, with just 20 vouchers at $6 each.

In July 2025, Steel Lake Presbyterian Church provided additional funding to bump up that weekly voucher number to 36.

“There’s an estimate from Northwest Harvest that over 22% of seniors are currently living with food insecurity and over 33% of them are under…the lowest poverty line,” Glandon told the council. “Our seniors are pretty vulnerable and it’s hard for a lot of them to ask for help or to reach out with a need, and this is a really great way this city can involve themselves to give back to the senior community.”

Seeing how great the need was, Chynoweth presented a request to the council to use funds from a restricted account that the senior commission had previously been told they could use for nothing but the Senior Health and Resource Fair.

The restricted fund source had over $4,000 in it and is made up of vendor and sponsorship payments for that event — and therefore are designated only for outreach that directly benefits seniors in the community.

After reviewing restrictions, the finance department determined that these funds could be used for the senior food voucher program.

“This speaks volumes about the generosity of our city, our council, and our community,” Mayor Ferrell said in a press release. “Ensuring our seniors can access fresh, healthy food is a vital part of supporting their overall well-being and the health of our community.”

Vouchers can be obtained and redeemed at the Federal Way Farmers Market, held every Saturday at the Commons Mall through Oct. 25.

Amy Glandon, Executive Assistant to the City Council in Federal Way. Here she advocates for the needs of seniors in the community and the impact of the healthy seniors food voucher program at the Federal Way Farmers Market. Photo by Bruce Honda