Positively Impacting the Community: Scotland County Senior Center Provides Nutritious Meals to Patrons
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By Emily Bontrager
The Scotland County Senior Center is vital to the local community. The center helps with providing nutritious meals to senior citizens in the area and a place where people can gather together.
Barbara Smith has been the Scotland County Senior Center administrator for many years. The main goal of the Senior Center is to provide nutritious meals to their patrons.
“Our menus have to be gone over by a registered dietitian,” Smith explained.
“Our goal is to provide a third of their daily requirements for a meal and the other is socialization.”
Each day of the week, the head cook, and two assistant cooks prepare nutritious meals for senior citizens. These meals are served Monday through Friday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for those 60 years old and older.
“Those that are over 60, we ask for a $4.00 contribution. If you can make that that is great, if you can’t, we won’t deny you service,” Smith said.
Other patrons under the age of 60 are also welcomed to come in and eat at the center, but they are asked to pay the full price of a meal, which is $9.00.
The Senior Center not only provides meals in-house, but volunteers also deliver the meals to people that are homebound. These meals are delivered in the city limits.
“Our churches in the area have stepped up since we started, and they volunteer their services to deliver the meals,” Smith said.
Meals can also be picked up from the center and be taken to people who live outside the city limits.
On average, the center serves in-house meals to 35 to 40 senior citizens a day. The volunteers also deliver around 35 to 38 meals around town.
The Senior Center also holds monthly blood pressure checks, and a few other activities for people to participate in.
“The health office comes down usually once a month and does blood pressure for us. Usually the first Thursday,” Smith said.
“There is also a new in-home service called Advantage, and they called and asked me if they could come down and bring their Bingo stuff and play Bingo.”
On Thursday nights, people also come to the center to play cards and this is open to anyone who wants to play.
The center is also available to rent for other events like baby showers, graduation parties, family Christmas parties, or wedding showers.
One of the things that is vital for the center to operate is the volunteers. Each volunteer helps in many ways at the center. Some serve on the ten person Senior Center board, while others help at the desk and take the meal contributions each day.
Other volunteers help deliver the meals in the community to homebound patrons. Each volunteer does a great job helping the senior citizens in the area and they are greatly appreciated. Without everyone’s help, it would be difficult to provide this service to the community.
The Scotland County Senior Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can contact the center at 660-465-7011 with any questions or if you would like to sign up to volunteer.
The center is located at 301 West Monroe in Memphis, MO. You can find the Senior Center’s menu in the Memphis Democrat or stop in at the center to see the menu.
If you want to help support the center and what they provide for this community, come out to their annual fundraiser on Sunday, March 3rd. They will be hosting a soup luncheon that day. Soup will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Carry-outs are also available. This is a free will donation meal, and everyone is welcomed to come.
Soups served that day will be chili, potato, and vegetable. There will also be ham and pimento cheese sandwiches, cherry cheesecake, and pie. Come out to visit, enjoy some great food, and support the Senior Center!
