BOISE, Idaho — Federal budget cuts are threatening the survival of a senior center that has served a rural Idaho community for five decades.

The Melba Valley Senior Center, which provides free meals, a food pantry, and social activities to about 400 people monthly, has lost federal funding and grant money, and the center staff is now trying to make up for it.

"Oh, no, we better get hustling," said Michelle Martinez, coordinator at the center for seven years, after learning about the funding cuts.

The center operates two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, serving meals and operating a food pantry that distributes more than 40,000 pounds of food monthly to seniors from Melba and surrounding communities ,including Murphy, Oriana, Marsing, Givens and Nampa.

It does a third food pantry da

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