(Editor's Note: The following letter was sent to Kate Turpin at Senior Services-Seattle-King County with a copy to the Times/News.)

I was shocked when I received the news that the Burien Nutritional Center was being closed due to lack of MONEY! I am a volunteer at the center four hours a day, five days a week, and I see many needy seniors coming in for a hot meal.

Though two of the sites you have recommended do not go by suggested donations but require everyone to pay $3 before being admitted, Burien never did this. Some paid $3, some paid $2, some paid $1 and some paid pennies or not at all but no one was turned away. We even had a homeless man eat with us a few times and we made him as welcome as anyone else.

How a site can be judged on how much MONEY is coming in instead of how many hot meals we are furnishing to older seniors, who can not afford any better, is beyond my comprehension.

I sincerely regret the day has come when MONEY is more important than helping needy senior citizens and I sincerely hope that all of you who have made this decision have no guilt feelings. There are so many that need at least one hot meal a day, which we at the Burien Nutritional Center were giving them.

I know my letter will probably go unread but I felt I had to state my feelings as I feel we are letting the seniors in the Burien area down.

Jean Kelley

Burien