Document text
Central Point steps to the plate for meals By BUFFY POLLOCK CENTRAL POINT � Thanks to a gift from the city, the Food and Friends program will continue serving hot meals to locals in need a little longer. "We�ve got to help these folks because some of us might be down there getting our dinner one day, too," said Council member Richard Halley. The City Council voted unanimously to fund $10,640 in salary for a part-time site manager at the Senior Center, Central Point's Food and Friends meal site. The city also has been paying for the center's electricity for several months. "The city's been very supportive in numerous ways. We wouldn't still be open without them," said nutrition program coordinator Tisa Hill, of the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. Although the program receives federal funding every year, cost has exceeded funding for several decades and the gap continues to broaden because of a growing senior population, she told the council. "The money hasn't really increased and the number of seniors has," Hill said. About 110 hot meals are provided each day, five days a week, through the Senior Center � 25 on-site and another 85 home-delivered. That translates to about 5,000 hot meals served on site every year and 23,000 delivered. Senior Center secretary Ora Corliss said the program needs volunteer support as much as it needs funding. "We need participation. We have a large homebound population we take care of and a lot that come in here. They really need the place. They'll tell you that. Like all organizations, we're just struggling to survive." Corliss has been working with the Senior Center since she came in one day "just to pour coffee" in 1985. She said she has seen firsthand how much seniors need that one hot nutritious meal a day � often the only meal they get. "If this didn't get enough funding, it'd really be a disaster. Most of the people we deliver to would have to be put in homes who are, right now, self dependent by getting a meal and a visitor," said Corliss. Meals are served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at 123 N. Second St. and delivered to homes between 10 a.m. and noon. For more information, call Hill at 664-6676. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.