A new home for meal programs

The Dodge City Senior Center and a Great Bend senior service agency are working together to find Meals on Wheels and Friendship Meals a new home.
    Ford County Administrator Ed Elam told the Ford County Commission on Monday that the Senior Center and Eldercare, a Great Bend-based agency that provides funding for both programs, are working on an agreement that would allow the programs to use the center as a serving site. He added that officials estimate it would cost $80,000 to outfit the center's kitchen with serving tables and other equipment.
    "That is being worked out presently between the two agencies," Elam said.
    Meals on Wheels strives to serve nutritious meals to homebound people, while Friendship Meals offers meals to people who can get out and about but would like a little company. Both programs have been housed in the Trinity Center Retirement Apartments, 1107 Sixth Ave., for about 30 years.
    But program officials recently learned that they would need to find a new home by Dec. 1, when the Trinity Association of Southwest Kansas plans to close the building.
    Commissioner John Swayze, who serves on a task force studying ways to improve senior services, said that the panel had made progress on the issue.
    "There's a lot of movement on this, and I think it's in the right direction," he said.
    The senior center's executive director, Roxanne Hornberger, said in a phone interview that the programs have agreed to move into the center. She added that officials are studying upgrades to the center's kitchen.
    Eldercare's executive director, Janet Splitter, was out of her Great Bend office Monday afternoon.
    Friendship Meals' vice president, Virginia Brown, said she was relieved that the problem had been settled.
    "It's good that we have a site that we can go to and that we can advance to a full commercial kitchen," she said.
    Meals on Wheels director Amy Winkler said the programs would likely move to the Senior Center by early November. She added that meals will have to be brought in from another site for a while until the kitchen is upgraded.
    "We're looking forward to it, and I know it will work out," she said.
    In a related development, the commission decided to wait until Nov. 3 before appointing new members to the Ford County Council on Aging.
    The county has received several applications for the council's at-large positions but only two recommendations from agencies represented on the board. Meals on Wheels had selected Winkler as its delegate, while Friendship Meals had chosen Brown.
    Elam suggested extending the deadline for appointments until Nov. 1, which would give county officials a chance to contact each of the groups represented on the council and request recommendations for appointments. At the same time, he said, county officials could continue seeking additional volunteers for the council.
   
Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or e-mail him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.