Senior center goes to $7 for senior meals

At the January 17 Nodaway County Senior Citizens Senate, Inc. meeting, the board approved $7 meals for over 60 years of age and $9 meals for 59 years and under.

These prices will go into effect Thursday, February 15. The main focus of the meeting was financial with the board noting the need to raise the cost of the meals due to the increased cost of food, utilities and wages.

The increase in the Missouri minimum wage to $12.30 on January 1 was discussed. The board approved going to $12.30 per hour. This will affect four employees, two housekeepers for 10 hours per week and two outside drivers for a total of $3.25 increase per week.

The next topic was the Angel Program which helps to pay for meals for individuals whose income is below the poverty level. There are currently 32 individuals enrolled in the program. Once a person qualifies, the center has not reassessed their eligibility. However now, participants will need to re-qualify for the Angel Program each year by providing their household income.

The program was started when the Nodaway County Senior Center was denied tax monies from Young at Heart, Albany. The Angel Program is funded through church, organization and individual donations. It has never received enough donations to cover all of the costs involved so the senior center has made up the difference from other sources.

Individuals in the Angel Program have been encouraged through the years to pay as much as they can. Of the 32 currently enrolled, only five make regular payments. It was decided to send a letter explaining the situation to the current enrollees and, if applicable, their family members.

Other decisions included limiting the Angel Program to just Monday through Friday meals, with the individuals having to pay full price for the frozen weekend meals.

The board also wants to promote more donations. Individuals who make a minimum donation can qualify for a Missouri state tax 50 percent credit and the board wants to promote this aspect of donations.

A donor stopped payment on a $1,000 check. Administrator Mia Nelson has been unable to contact the donor or find out why the payment was stopped.

Vice President Joe Baumli has requested a roofing bid from Rightway Roofing, which is the only local roofer which can recoat the senior center roof. He has also contacted Attorney Bob Sundell to pursue the insurance appeal for the roof.

He is also going to contact Evergy about installing an outdoor light at the back of the facility. He also wants a motion-sensor light at the front entrance.

Discussion was held on the two funds the senior center has at the Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri. Amounts have been pulled from both accounts and invested in CDs. The decision was made not to pull further funds from the accounts because of the fluidity of the accounts and the ease of drawing out money without penalties.

The senior center served 380 meals at the “It’s a Real Christmas” meal on Christmas day. Donations were $2,765. The number of meals served was up and the amount of the donation was down.

The center was open 20 days in December not counting the Christmas meal. The congregate or dine-in meals averaged 39 and the home-delivered meals averaged 94.