Last year, the Concordia Senior Center decided to transform its kitchen spaces, moving from outdated equipment and food service challenges to state-of-the-art machinery and regulars utilizing the senior center daily.
According to Concordia Senior Center board treasurer Richard Hubert, who also serves as the Cloud County coordinator for the Cloud County Commission on Aging, the local senior center decided to end its food service agreement with the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging (NCFHAAA) and change to locally fulfilling the service.
The center has accomplished all of these improvements in only five months, beginning its kitchen project in January this year and getting its final upgrade, a food warmer that arrived after the other upgrades, last month.
“We completely upgraded the kitchen,” Hubert said. “(NCFHAAA) came in and removed the equipment that they owned, and we’ve replaced all of that. So we’ve got newer equipment that doesn’t break down as often, because some of that equipment was like, 20 years old.”
Senior center head cook Penny Nease agreed with Hubert about the new equipment, speaking favorably about the new appliances she uses daily.
The upgrades cost around $30,000, which the center purchased through fundraised or grant dollars through the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. Even though the kitchen stole most of the limelight for these upgrades, the center also replaced some concrete parking behind its street front and improved its bathrooms to be easily accessible.
The senior center not only provides lunches for the community at discounted prices, $5 for those above the age of 60, and $6 for those below the age of 60, but also continues its Meals on Wheels program where volunteers provide lunches for homebound individuals.
“We have people that can’t get out,” Hubert said. “And then the people who come in here and eat and socialize, that’s a big thing for seniors getting out and about — interacting with each other… We find that people that don’t get out show signs of dementia, because there’s no interaction.”
With the recent upgrades, Hubert and office manager Marissa Morgan said that a few local groups are now asking to use the senior center for different activities from religious youth groups to local clubs.
To learn more about the Concordia Senior Center, visit www.concordiaksseniorcenter.org.
