Mayhill Community Center celebrates
the start of their Senior Meal Program
Thursday, April 25th marked the beginning of
a once a week senior citizen meal program at the
Mayhill Community Center (MCC) sponsored by the
Mayhill Community Center Board (MCCB). Thirty
seven seniors enjoyed a full course meal
provided by Sacramento Mountain Senior Services,
Inc. (SMSSI), also known as the Cloudcroft
Senior Center in Cloudcroft. The Cloudcroft
Senior Center also provided balloons,
decorations, and a cake to celebrate the
occasion. The Cloudcroft Senior Center will
prepare and cook the food, deliver it and serve
it at the MCC. Volunteers from the MCCB and
local area residents will help serve the food
and clean up afterward.
The MCCB has been working toward this goal
for the past two years. MCCB President Lou
Woltering praised board members for all of their
hard work and support. He also thanked Kathy
Swope, Director of Cloudcroft Senior Center and
her staff for all their advice and support, the
Mayhill Volunteer Fire Department, Mayhill
Extension Association, and Otero County for all
of their support and contributions, and all of
the local volunteers that have supported fund
raising efforts, work projects, made donations,
etc. that allowed the MCC kitchen to be
certified by the state to serve hot meals.
Contributions by various citizens,
organizations, business entities, and grants
also provided funds and support to the project.
When asked about the program, Kathy Swope
informed everyone that, "The senior meal
program began in 1965 when President Johnson
signed the Older Americans Act of 1965 to
recognize and reward the contributions that
senior citizens have made to their homes,
communities, and America, during their
lifetimes. It’s not a welfare program, it’s
a way for America to say thank you to our
seniors. The program provides a healthy,
balanced, and nutritious meal, provides a place
for seniors to gather, socialize, get to know
one another, and continue to contribute in
various ways to their communities. We are so
excited to be a part of this program!"
The MCCB hopes they can expand to a five day
a week program, managed by the Cloudcroft Senior
Center in the future. For now, a hot meal will
be served every Thursday from 11:30 am until
12:15 pm at the MCC. Participants or their
spouse must be 60 years or older. A donation of
$2.00 per person is appreciated. Both Woltering
and Swope echoed the same message, "If you’re
60 or older and can’t afford $2.00, we’re
going to feed you." However, because meals
are not cooked at the MCC, any persons wishing
to participate in Thursday’s meal must make a
reservation so that enough food can be prepared.
Seniors are asked to sign up at the meal for
next weeks’ meal or contact Lou Woltering at
687-3334 or Patty Posey at 687-2003 by Wednesday
noon each week if they’d like to eat at the
MCC. Reservations can also be made by calling
the Cloudcroft Senior Center (575-682-3022) by
8:00 a.m. Thursday morning.
The MCCB recently received a Capital Outlay
grant from the state for $63,000 that will allow
them to remodel the kitchen and purchase all of
the commercial appliances required for the
certification that will allow them to cook and
serve hot meals at the MCC. Otero County will be
doing most of the remodeling work. The MCCB
hopes to be cooking hot food for the annual
Community Christmas dinner this December.
Lou & Kay Woltering
Pics by MWare
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SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS
