Senior Center Board discusses upcoming elections

The Nodaway County Senior Citizens Senate at the April 21 Senior Center meeting discussed the importance of the Tuesday, May 4 Young at Heart Resources regional elections for its board of directors.

The Young at Heart board is comprised of nine members representing 18 counties in Northwest Missouri, and each member term is three years.

The area is divided into three regions and Northwest consists of Atchison, Gentry, Harrison, Holt, Nodaway and Worth counties. In this region, candidates are Dixie Eitel McGary, Maryville, and Paula York from Harrison County. The election will be from 9 am to 3 pm, May 4 at the First Baptist Church, 121 East Jenkins, Maryville. Voting is open to all individuals age 60 and up.

McGary attended the senior center board meeting to introduce herself and discuss her qualifications for the position. She later attended the lunch meal where she talked to the seniors who were enjoying the hot, nutritious meal at the senior center.

The senior center board is encouraging individuals to vote for McGary to keep a Nodaway Countian on the Young at Heart Resources board.

To complicate matters, the Nodaway County Senior Center is also holding elections for three positions on its board. Board members Teresa Hayes, Jim Hazen and Connie McGinness are running unopposed in the election which is from 8 am to 1:30 pm, Tuesday, May 4 at the senior center.

Administrator Amie Firavich is struggling to fill an open position for an outside-of-the-city driver to deliver home meals. The position was paying $8 per day plus mileage. The board approved paying $10 per hour plus mileage for the three days per week job which takes two to two-and-a-half hours per day to complete.

Firavich has applied for grants from the Gladys Rickard Trust and the Harold P. Dugdale Grant. The grants, if received, will be used for the Angel Fund. She is currently working on completing the United Way application for funding which is due at the end of April.

The Angel Fund is running at a $7,000 loss for the 2020-21 year and a $13,000 loss over the lifetime of the program which started in September 2017. To be eligible for the angel program, individuals must be 60 or older and for a household of one, gross monthly income most be $1,506 or below, and for a household of two, $2,030. The individuals will need to prove income.

The senior center is in desperate need of volunteers starting in May. Northwest Missouri State University spring semester is finishing and the students who volunteer are leaving Maryville. To volunteer or to find out more information, contact Firavich at 660.562.3999.

Meal counts in March included a daily average of 32 meals served at the senior center or congregate meals, and averaged 85 meals a day for home-delivered. The center was open for 23 days.