Letters from Seniors in Purcell area in response to budget cuts

To whom it may concern
Why did you cut senior citizens meal program by 25% ½ of total cut. You could have cut out your mileage and pay your own way to work like have done as long as I worked and I didn’t make any part of the amount as you make.

My wife is in a nursing home and I still have to pay all our utility bills and taxes besides groceries and health insurance.
When election time comes Beware you will be part of the unemployed
John Bourquin

To whom this concerns,
Our senior citizens of Purcell and surrounding communities need our nutrition program. We understand there will be cuts. This would be bad for our seniors because otherwise they would not get a decent meal 5 days a week. I believe there is another way to cut somewhere else besides this program.
We have a good meal each day and wonderful employees who go beyond their duty to make everyone feel welcome and cared about.

Thank you
Douglas and Laura Williams

10-6-09
Wayne, OK 73095
To whom it may concern:
I attend Purcell Senior Citizen Center for lunch. I need this as I am single and do not cook! Please keep us open & at the same rate Please full fund us!

Thanks
Joe Bob Jamro
Retired Teacher
Wanette Schools 1997
Please do not financially cut our senior program. This is a good place for us to eat hot meals and enjoy our friendly get togethers

Thank you
Mildred L Westbrook
10/6/2009

I enjoy the Center because of the Friendly people I meet and the good meals & really enjoy playing games
Pearlie Winthers
10/6/09

I am very unhappy to hear you are cutting our budget. Seem like you could fine someone else to pick on we love our center we old folk enjoy come here every morning

Joyce Sain

Lisa Billy
Legislator
We all enjoy the games and meals at the Purcell Senior Center

Shirley Stark

The center is very important to the people not just for the food but also for getting together for a lot of the people because this is all they might see of people. Also for some this probably the main meal they get.

Mary T Loentor

I enjoy the center because of the friendly people and our very good leader
Bea

To whom it concerns
The senior citizen centers are very Important to our community. If we don’t take care of them who have been here for us now we need to be there for them
Brenda

Dear Sirs,
This Purcell senior center is a very interesting place for me. I live alone & this gives me friends & something to do during the day
Helen Blackstone

To the Legislature
It is very important to the Senior Citizens of Okla. Do not have to suffer through a budget cut. The center are the only place some seniors get a meal for the day. They have put on the back burner long enough. Our children, disabled children & Senior Citizens, should be our first priority
Thank you
Nila & Jimmy Ross

Dear Sir,
I am so thankful for our Purcell senior citizen center, I don’t know what I would do without it. It is such a blessing to me and everyone here. The food the staff that prepares the food are wonderful. They do such a great job not only myself but everyone here needs this place a lot of them would go hungry and end up in nursing homes and they need to be with people we all enjoy each other please keep us coming here each day.
Sincerely Joyce Clinton

Dear Senator
My name is Larry West, and I am righting in hope you will keep our senior citizens centers open. My man is 87 years old. These center help in hard times. This is the only good meal for some seniors for the day. They also help get people out and socialize and meet friends. We owe a lot to our senior citizens and not cut there help in hard times
Larry Lusest

Ref: Senior Citizens
Please keep the senior Program open. Getting together each day means so much to each of us-not only the meal but being together with others of your age means so much and will contribute to our well being. Thanks Kathryn L. Ratliff

To Whom it may Concern
The senior citizen center in Purcell is a very important place for us to meet for various activities and enjoy a great meal. The center would surely be missed for a large number of people.
Please consider leaving this center open we all need it.
Thank you Sincerely
Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Thompson 10-6-09

To Whom it may Concern:
Our senior Center here in Purcell is very vital to our community. I have been working(volunteer) here for over a year delivering frozen meals, lunches Etc.
The cooks & Nutrition personal work very hard for us and we need all the help we can get to keep our center going. All the people who we deliver to are very appreciative of our services and believe me, they need their meals. Our seniors should not and do not deserve being cut from any of our benefits.
Hester L. Hughes

I’ve heard about the cut in the nutrition program. It seems like Congress has forgotten about the aging, when they take $ 5,000 raises for themselves
Jacob Cirer Jr

Our aging seniors should not suffer from the state taking our nutrition programs away. Our Purcell Center is vital to our older seniors and we deliver meals to the home bound. Who would suffer greatly
Rudy Crawford

To Whom it may concern:
Please do not cut out the senior meals. Many of us depend on them for our only nutritious meal of the day. Thank you Anita Ballard

I am thrilled to express my thoughts about the senior citizens center and the program for the many activities provided. Most of the time when I get here there are about three tables of card games or dominoes and puzzles in full swing. I deliver lunches to the shut in’s and on what a joy to see and hear the help it is to them.
Mickey

Statewide H1N1 Vaccination Blitz Planned

 

 

For Release:  November 2, 2009                                                                 

Contact:         Pamela Williams

                        Office of Communications

                        405/271-5601

 

Statewide H1N1 Vaccination Blitz Planned

 

State Health officials are planning a statewide H1N1 influenza vaccination effort Saturday November 7^th for Oklahomans who fall into one of the priority groups targeted to receive this vaccine.

 

 “We recognize that many Oklahomans are trying to obtain the H1N1 vaccine to protect their children or themselves from this new strain of flu.  Although the amount of vaccine that our state has received so far is not enough to meet the demand, our goal is to deliver as many vaccinations as possible November 7^th,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley.  “The H1N1flu virus continues to strike children and pregnant women particularly hard.  We encourage people included in the priority groups to continue to seek a vaccination.” 

    

Priority groups for the H1N1 vaccine now include all children ages six months to 18 years, pregnant women, custodial parents of infants less than six months of age, front-line health care workers who have direct patient contact with acutely ill persons, and adults 19 – 64 years of age with chronic disease.

 

Clinics will be held at multiple locations statewide Saturday, November 7, 2009 for the vaccine priority groups.  The time and location of these clinics will be announced later in the week. People seeking vaccinations will be screened to ensure that they meet the priority group definition for H1N1 vaccine.

 

An additional 93,100 doses of the novel H1N1 influenza vaccine is arriving in the state. The doses include both nasal spray and injectable vaccines. The Oklahoma State Department of Health is projected to receive H1N1 vaccine in weekly shipments through early January 2010.

      

In addition to providing vaccine through regularly scheduled clinics, county health departments will begin to distribute vaccine to certain private providers with an emphasis on practices that serve children.

           

For more information about the availability of H1N1 influenza vaccine in your area, call your local county health department or visit www.health.ok.gov, or call the Oklahoma State Department of Health toll-free H1N1 hotline at: 1-866-278-7134. Phones are answered Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.

 

###

 

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.

Volunteer Recruitment Training Announcements: New National Council on Aging (NCOA) Webinar Series!

Engaging Older Volunteers as Leaders in Your Organization

Today's older volunteers have a wealth of knowledge, skills, and professional experience.

Is your organization ready to use them to their fullest potential?

Join NCOA for a new Webinar series on how to engage older volunteers in professional-level roles to help your organization accomplish more. Speakers are grantees from the NCOA RespectAbility Models of Significant Service program. Listen as they share lessons learned on how to recruit and manage older volunteers effectively.

All Webinars are free, but space is limited. You must register for each Webinar separately.

November:

Targeted Marketing & Recruitment of Capacity-Building 55+ Volunteers
Thursday, Nov. 5, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speakers: Gajtana Simonovski & Kay Oppenheimer, Community Service Society of New York RSVP
Discover:
•What makes an excellent recruitment ad
•The characteristics of 55+ volunteers
•How to write compelling marketing and recruitment messages
•Where to send your message for maximum impact
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/vbs7zkc8h3iq

How to Grow Your Programs by Engaging Older Professional Leadership Volunteers
Thursday, Nov. 12, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speakers: Liesl Slabaugh & Bill James, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound
Discover:
•Compelling reasons to engage older professional-level volunteers in leadership roles
•Examples of how older volunteers can significantly increase your nonprofit's capacity
•Keys to successfully implementing a volunteer program at your organization
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/yf4ju7cwgdkk

RSVP Capacity Corps Replication Guide
Monday, Nov. 9, 1-2 p.m. EST
Thursday, Nov. 19, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speakers: Ken Murray & Paddy Clark, Southern Maine Agency on Aging
Discover:
•How to recruit volunteers with significant management and professional experience to assist
your organization with leadership-level projects
•What these volunteers can bring to your organization—and why it's worthwhile to engage them
•How an RSVP or Volunteer Center can recruit and place these volunteers in its service area
Register now for Nov. 9. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/yf4ju7cwgdkk
Register now for Nov. 19. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/e6aanlaqhe36

Successes & Challenges in Implementing a Civic Engagement Program for Older Adults
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2:30-3:30 p.m. EST
Speakers: Liz Rottger & Linda Davis, Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin
Discover:
•How one nonprofit created a proactive group of 50+ professionals to collaborate with the
social sector to develop challenging opportunities for older volunteers
•The challenges of establishing a civic engagement program for older adults
•Successful civic engagement strategies for attracting a corps of highly skilled volunteer
professionals
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/i3hc1dgqkzab

December:

How to Create Effective Partnerships
Thursday, Dec. 3, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speaker: Ann Rich, Chicago Life Opportunities Initiative
Discover:
•Why partnerships are important, particularly now
•Types of partnerships—and what to look for in a potential partner
•The "do's and don'ts" of effective partnerships
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/uo7ltnqzhn25

Organizational Culture: Getting Your Nonprofit Ready for Leadership Volunteers
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speaker: Lisa Ferretti, ExcelleShare & Gajtana Simonovski, CSSNY
Discover:
•Strategies for addressing staff resistance to leadership volunteers
•How to choose projects that promote joint volunteer and staff planning and implementation
•How to recognize and celebrate organizational change as a sign of growth and increased
capacity
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/imcs4q6gssd1

Tips for Recruiting & Engaging Leadership-Level Volunteers
Monday, Dec. 7, 1-2 p.m. EST
Friday, Dec. 11, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speakers: Ken Murray & Paddy Clark, Southern Maine Agency on Aging
Discover:
•Messages that attract volunteers with significant professional and management experience
•Venues and methods of delivering those messages
•Ways to work with professional-level older volunteers to build success
Register now for Dec. 7. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/osec37587mzk
Register now for Dec. 11. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/b76m2k0j5xrk

January:

How to Put Together a Successful Volunteer Training Curriculum for 50+ Leadership Volunteers
Friday, Jan. 8, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speaker: Ann Rich, Chicago Life Opportunities Initiative
Discover:
•Topics for a volunteer leadership development training program for 50+ adults
•How these topics differ from a traditional volunteer curriculum
•Effective ways to encourage learning, participation, and empowerment among 50+ volunteers
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/5ck8c08s5lw3

How to Grow Your Programs by Engaging Older Professional Leadership Volunteers
Thursday, Jan. 21, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speakers: Liesl Slabaugh & Bill James, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound
Discover:
•Compelling reasons to engage older professional-level volunteers in leadership roles
•Examples of how older volunteers can significantly increase your nonprofit's capacity
•Keys to successfully implementing a volunteer program at your organization
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/hg4b4d82g5pm

Making Your Organization "Boomer-Friendly"
Friday, Jan. 22, 1-2 p.m. EST
Speakers: Liz Rottger & Linda Davis, Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin
Discover:
•How to use your rolodex, social network, and the Internet to recruit highly skilled
potential volunteers
•How to use interviews to explore the skills and background of potential volunteers
•How to develop explicit job descriptions and work plans that measure outcomes and impact
•How to develop trust by involving volunteers in planning their own work
Register now. https://cc.readytalk.com/r/ihske4rjdrtv

Dibble Senior Citizens News October 28

Dibble Senior Citizens News

Greetings to the Seniors of the Dibble Community!!!

We have arranged for May’s Home Health to come on Friday, 10/23, to give flu shots again. Last time, we ran out of vaccine. Be at the center at 10:30 and bring your Medicare card or you will pay $20.00.

Our sick list is improved, with folks on the mend. This is especially a hard time of the year for seniors on Medicare Part D, as some will fall into the doughnut hole on their prescription drugs. For those of you who don’t know, that means seniors have to pay 100% of their medication until January 1, 2010!!! Sometimes, that is more than their entire retirement check!!

Oh, well, everyone has their own sad story to tell. Those Wall Street CEO’s are getting flack over their big bonuses at tax payer’s expense and that Limbaugh fellow can’t buy the Rams football team, so what’s such a big deal about floating seniors down the river on a fast log at the end of the year?

Remember Tuesday, Nov. 10th, is Payback Time at Regional Food Bank. We will leave at 12:00 noon from the center. Be there or be square!! Remember, we will be voting on Friday as to where we will go on our next field trip!! If you want a voice in this decision, get your hand in the air!!!

Our report for September is as follows: 714 Senior meals, including Meals on Wheels; 416 food baskets given out to subsidize food budgets, averaging 104 per week.

All for now…………………….

Menu
Monday Hamburger and French Fries
Tuesday Country Breakfast
Wednesday Beef Pot Pie
Thursday Cook’s Choice
Friday Steak and Baked Potato

Nutrition sites get cut

Meals reduced from five days a week to four

BY STEVE METZER
STAFF WRITER
SMETZER@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM

Concerns are rising in small towns across Oklahoma and at the state Capitol about funding cuts for local senior nutrition sites.
The sites provide meals for tens of thousands of Oklahomans each day and are considered vital pieces of the social fabric of many communities. They’re administered by Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) with state and federal funds channeled through the Oklahoma Department of HumanServices. A precipitous decline in state revenues over the past year resulted in a recent cut in funding for senior nutrition programs of $7.4 million. The budget hit, due to take effect Nov. 1, for the AAA that administers 32 nutrition sites in Comanche, Caddo, Cotton, Grady, Jefferson, McClain, Stephens and Tillman counties amounted to $502,309, according to its director, Ken Jones.
Jones said more than $53,000 of the cut was absorbed by the staff at the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments, which oversees the local AAA. The remainder of the cut had to be passed on to 10 projects administered by the AAA, including:
n Comanche County Nutrition, cut by $99,584 from $427,555 down to $327,971;
n Tri-County Nutrition, cut by $210,000 from $886,690 down to $677,990; and
n Delta Nutrition, cut by $126,701 from $540,913 down to $414,212.
Smaller cuts affected Lawton’s Center for Creative Living, senior centers in Grandfield, Tuttle, Minco and Tipton, the Great Plains Caregiver program and a Legal Aid program for seniors.
None of the local-area nutrition sites have been closed, but Jones said all 16 of the sites in the Tri-County Nutrition Program area have already reduced meal service from five days a week to four days a week. The Delta Program has reduced staff by one at each of its nine sites.
The decline in state finances, brought on by a severe downturn in oil and gas production taxes and other taxes and revenues affected by the bad economy gripping the nation, has resulted in cuts at every level of state government, impacting everything from spending on education to substance abuse treatment. But perceptions that cuts at nutrition sites may leave some senior citizens going hungry have been especially hard for some to take. State Sen. Patrick Anderson, REnid, called Wednesday for Gov. Brad Henry to use “discretionary funds” that he controls related to the federal stimulus to shore up nutrition program funding.
“I can’t think of a better use for the governor’s discretionary money than to help ensure that our seniors don’t have to go without a meal,” Anderson said in a press release.
Three Lawton-area lawmakers said Friday that they wouldn’t be opposed to exploring such an option to benefit nutrition sites, though some pointed out that applying money tied to the federal stimulus could result in an offset of other federal dollars coming into the programs.
Rep. Don Armes, R-Faxon, and Sen. Don Barrington, R-Lawton, said another option might be to tap the state’s Rainy Day Fund, though both said they would favor only very targeted use of the fund. Such an action would require the governor to call a special session of the Legislature, supported by leaders in both the House and Senate.
“If they call a special session, I certainly would be one to advocate for nutrition sites,” Barrington said. He pointed out, though, that with the state’s finances declining by hundreds of millions of dollars the Rainy Day Fund would not be large enough to offset all of the across-the-board cuts at state agencies.
Armes agreed. While he would favor tapping the fund to shore up senior nutrition sites, he would discourage using it in many other areas.
“This economy and this budget situation are very real,” Armes said, “and we don’t know if next year might be worse.”
Added Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow: “Every Oklahoman should face the reality that there are some tough days ahead. To be perfectly honest, I fear agencies have more and bigger cuts to make in the future. The Oklahoma Constitution requires a balanced budget. We cannot go into debt like the federal government continues to do. We have to spend only what we have. Revenues are down around 30 percent compared to last year. If that continues, agencies will have to balance the budget by making more cuts or the Legislature would have to dramatically increase taxes. Those are our options.”
Holland said he has received a handful of letters and e-mails and met with “probably a dozen” constituents who don’t want to see nutrition sites cut, and he said spreading cuts out a little more across the DHS may be yet another way of lessening the negative impact on seniors.
“(But) at this point it looks as if the cuts will go into effect,” he said. “The senior nutrition sites should certainly plan for that reality. I am hopeful that a resolution might be developed in the near future, but there is the real possibility that it will not happen as long as our state revenues continue to decline.”

When the Times Get Hard, Bray Gets Going

Earl Lavey and about 40 volunteers from the Town of Bray work hard to distribute food to over 200 area families in need.

With donations from the Oklahoma Food Bank and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, the seniors at Bray Senior Center along with dozens of volunteers from the community, including students from Bray-Doyle School and developmentally delayed students from Marlow work together to make the Bray food bank a success. Thousands of man hours and the cooperation from local businesses make this effort possible.

The Bray Senior Center is a shining example of what can be done during a time of financial crisis. Through volunteerism they are able to make every dollar count.