(Chelsea Update would like to thank Jennifer Smith for the information in this story.)
Chelsea Senior Center (CSC) celebrated its 10th anniversary as a Senior Nutrition Program (SNP) site in March.
The program started in 2013 and has served more than 253,000 meals since then. To honor the month of March as National Senior Nutrition Program month and celebrate 10 years, CSC diners enjoyed tasty treats each week.
A national Senior Nutrition Program for adults 60 and up was started 50 years ago by President Richard Nixon. The program began in 1972 as part of the Older Americans Act of 1965 and still helps fund a network of senior nutrition programs across the USA that provides nearly 250 million meals annually to almost 3 million seniors.
In Chelsea, the Senior Center serves 25,000 meals annually. At any given time up to 100 homebound seniors benefit from a friendly smile and home-delivered, freshly made meal. And daily, an average of 30 area seniors gather at the center to enjoy lunch and fellowship. The senior nutrition program provides an important opportunity for seniors to connect. Sharing a meal is ripe with potential for new friendships, finding old friends, and commiserating.
Sometimes new love sprouts.
CSC’s monthly birthday celebrations, hosted each month by one of CSC’s corporate sponsors, draw around 90 seniors.
CSC is very fortunate to partner with the Chelsea School District (CSD) in support of the senior nutrition program. As the caterer, CSD staffs the licensed, commercial kitchen at WSEC where the Senior Center rents space.
Tracey Dalton, the kitchen manager for the SNP, makes homemade meals that get delivered and served fresh each weekday. She also prepares extra meals that go in the freezer. These “weekend meals” get delivered to many homebound seniors on Fridays. This catering partnership, and Dalton’s commitment to seniors to provide tasty, fresh, healthy meals, is a key part of CSC’s long-standing, successful senior nutrition program.
In fact, she routinely includes fresh produce and fruit from CSC’s Intergenerational Garden when it’s in season. A favorite treat is her rhubarb crisp. Diners also enjoy the early spring leaf lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard that she adds to the salad bar.
The seeds for the fresh greens are planted in the garden’s hoop house in early spring by seniors and preschoolers working alongside each other.
CSC’s senior nutrition program would not be possible without the hundreds of hours that volunteers donate to the program. Twenty-five drivers each week donate their time and use their own vehicles and gas to deliver meals throughout Chelsea, across the local townships, and in Manchester.
An additional 10 volunteers donate their time in the kitchen each week helping to prepare, package, and serve the meals. SNP volunteers are always needed.
The SNP provides an essential service to area seniors. Funds to help support the program come from Washtenaw County OCED. CSC administers the program and receives a reimbursement from OCED for each meal served. Diners are asked to consider a voluntary donation to help offset costs. All donations made on behalf of the SNP stay with CSC to support senior nutrition in this area.
Funding for all CSC programs comes significantly from local support, including sponsorships and private giving, as well as from grants. Every dollar impacts seniors in our community every day.
For more information about CSC’s senior nutrition program, contact Jon Van Hoek at 734-475-9242 or visit www.ChelseaSeniors.org. If you know a homebound senior who would benefit from delivered meals, either on a short or long-term basis, please reach out.
The Chelsea Senior Center is located at 512 Washington St. With more than 1,200 members, its mission is to enhance the quality of life and well-being for area seniors and their families.
Silver Maples staff and some March birthday babies at CSC’s March birthdays celebration.
