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Central Point center takes food program off its menu By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT - With a new board of directors and improved attendance, the Senior Center has declared a new beginning - but Food and Friends will not be a part of it. The board decided it will not renew its contract with the county meal program that uses the center's kitchen to provide meals to some 90 homebound seniors in town. The contract ends July 1. The Rogue Valley Council of Governments, which coordinates Food and Friends, has vowed it will find another site and that delivery will continue uninterrupted to Central Point residents. Food and Friends uses kitchens throughout the county to provide 220,000 meals annually to some 4,000 local residents over age 60. More than 140,000 meals each year are delivered to people who can't leave their homes. Newly appointed director Nikki McDowell said the decision wasn't "anything personal." Talks between McDowell and the mayor, council members and Food and Friends directors did little to change board members' minds. "COG came over and asked us to reconsider, but we've made our decision," McDowell said. "We're doing our own thing now. We feel like this is the best decision for the center. "We don't want to be enemies. They've done a good service to the community. The board just feels it's time we make a change. And with all the encouragement and excitement about these changes, we can't be all wrong." The center will begin serving its own meals July 1. Evelyn Kinsella, nutrition program supervisor for Food and Friends, said that while she was "obviously disappointed," she understood the center was trying make changes. "We had hoped to come to some kind of agreement but we don't run the center," she said. "I really want to stress we were merely a program within the Central Point site. We appreciated that we could use it and there are certainly no bad feelings." The Senior Center has been plagued with problems over the past year, ranging from a constantly changing board of directors to regular resignations from angry volunteers and arguments about the quality of the food. While the decision marks a new beginning for the center, directors of Food and Friends are left scrambling to find another kitchen by July 1. They hope the city, which contributes a $10,000 salary for a site manager, will continue its support for Food and Friends at another location. "We're very thankful to the city of Central Point for all their support," Kinsella said. "I would hope that would continue and feel confident they will support us in one way or another at a new site." Kinsella said in 15 Food and Friends sites across Jackson and Josephine counties, kitchen use is donated by the community. Central Point, if forced to rent a space, would be the only meal center that was not donated. "Everybody has tight budgets right now, but we really want to keep the home delivery in Central Point," she said. "Volunteers are very committed to their own community. "We're very actively looking for a site and my hope is anybody in the community who has the type of facility we need will call us." Kinsella said that with summer on its way, volunteers would be in shorter supply as well. To suggest a site or to volunteer for meal delivery, contact Kinsella at 664-6676. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.