Nutrition sites come up with plans to serve seniors

Subject: Lawton News Article on Senior Centers Sunday November 1

Nutrition sites come up with plans to serve seniors BY STEVE METZER  STAFF WRITERSMETZER@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM      Senior nutrition sites in many Southwest Oklahoma communities are coming up with plans to keep senior citizens fed and cared for even as some sites have to furlough employees one day a week because of budget cuts.      In some cases, furloughed nutrition site staffers have said they will work at sites without pay. Volunteers also have stepped up, including senior citizens who patronize the sites, along with members of community churches and independent senior centers.      Ken Jones, who oversees administration of 32 nutrition sites in Comanche, Caddo, Cotton, Grady, Jefferson, McClain, Stephens and Tillman counties, said the response in communities is a reflection of how much people care about senior nutrition sites and what they provide — not only meals but also valued opportunities for socializing and even welfare checks on shut-ins.      "It's incredible," he said. "I've been going around and doing these Q&A sessions, and each site has its own character and they're all remarkable in their own way. In most of these places (nutrition site staffers) are like family."      Nose-diving state finances have resulted in millions of dollars being cut from budgets of everything from the Department of Human Services to the state Department of Education. Recently, Jones received notice that the budget of the local Area Agency on Aging would be reduced by more than $500,000. It's quite possible, too, that additional cuts may have to be made in the future.      One response has been the organization of a rally planned for 11 a.m. Wednesday on the second floor rotunda of the state Capitol, to raise awareness of cutbacks at nutrition sites.      Pot luck replaces meal      Another response occurred in Cement, where citizens decided that if no meal would be prepared at the local nutrition site on Fridays, they would replace it with a pot luck meal instead. Another occurred in Frederick, where members of a local independent senior citizens group will provide people to prepare and serve a meal at the nutrition site one day a week. In Carnegie, churches in the town have said they would do whatever it takes to keep the senior nutrition site open.      In many local-area communities, like Anadarko and Apache, a portion of county sales tax is dedicated to support senior programs. Jones said money typically goes to pay for rent and utilities at nutrition sites, but it's also spent sometimes on things like decorations or on new appliances. In many of those communities, decisions were made to stretch the tax dollars further to help maintain meal service five days a week.      Jones said in his meetings with seniors at the sites, he hasn't met with a lot of anger about cuts; rather, people just want to know what can be done to keep the sites going.      Volunteers check on shut-ins      "We're going to depend on volunteers," he said. He pointed out that welfare checks are an important part of what nutrition sites do, and even older folks who can't get around well themselves have offered to make phone calls to shut-ins who are neighbors — just doing what they can to help out.      At some of the sites, savings will be realized by delivering frozen meals to people or by relying more on canned foods. Though that might not be the most desirable option in all cases, Jones said the important thing is that people will still be fed who need to be fed, and they'll still have people there — whether nutrition site staffers, friends or other neighbors — to check on them.