Everywhere we turn, funding is short and programs are getting cut. This year, OUSD cut funding to adult education, including eliminating funding from the senior centers they support. The Fruitvale Presbyterian Senior Center has been operating for decades. Having watched other centers close in the last few years, they were acutely aware of the value of the center for themselves and their neighbors.
Through the support of local groups like the Montclair Lions Club and numerous individuals, the doors are staying open. Each week, between 20 and 40 seniors gather for bingo, line dancing, crafts, lunch, and special programs like presentations on finances for seniors, balance workshops, and discussions on coping with grief. Volunteers sustain most of the center, but community is at its heart. The friendships built at this center sustain and support many of the seniors, providing them with deeply needed connections and community.
The Center will continue to be open from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday, in the basement of the Fruitvale Presbyterian Church, at 2735 MacArthur Blvd. Lunch is provided by Bay Area Community Services for $2.50 per meal.
If you value this kind of program in your neighborhood, please consider supporting the center, through individual or group donations. Or, attend a fund-raising lunch hosted by the Montclair Lions Club, second Wednesday of the month at 12:15 p.m. At these events, a home-cooked meal costs a mere $5.
Contact Director Julie Jones at jacnjuli1764\@att.net or Pastor Abby King Kaiser at 550-393-0200 or agkkaiser\@gmail.com with questions or to support the center.
Lunch at Lincoln Court Center
By Beverly Karnatz
Lunch is now being served for adults 60 years and older at the Lincoln Court Center on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12 noon to 1 p.m. The suggested donation is $2.75. It is $6 for those under 60. The program is funded mostly from the Older Americans Act, administered by the Alameda Area Agency on Aging.
The meals are catered by PBS Catering in Alameda. Meals are cooked fresh that same day and personally delivered by Dennis Wallace, the owner and his staff. The ingredients are organic, even the milk. Already the menus are receiving rave reviews for their presentation, deliciousness, and large portions. One attendee exclaimed after the first meal that they expected it to be institutionalized food, but instead, it was food found at a good restaurant. The lunch program will maintain the same level of quality attached to other eating establishments in the Dimond. Reservations should be made two days ahead of the meal by calling 336-0100 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
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