At the Carbon County Senior Center meeting that took place on Tuesday afternoon, members briefly discussed the fact that due to a short budget in the 2016 year, the senior citizen center does not have the resources to serve food to its members all week. This is an issue that brings a lot of concern to many members of the community, especially the senior citizens that enjoy the meals of the center.
The senior citizen center will still stay open for activities on Fridays, however, lunch is not going to be served. The East Carbon senior citizen center recently faced this same fate. However, at the cost of the town, the East Carbon center has been able to provide meals to the members on Thursdays for the remainder of the year and keep Fridays as an open day, meaning that sponsors donate meals to the members on Fridays. It is not a service provided by the county.
The center in Price is hoping to have some sponsors. Kerri Barker spoke at the meeting, stating that she had spoke to local businesses, mainly home health agencies and doctor offices, which have agreed they are willing to donate money to host certain Fridays. This would go toward both the Carbon and East Carbon senior centers. Each business would be asked to donate $300. Debby Kobe, the director of the senior center, stated that it would cost about $4000.00 per Friday or approximately $200,000.00. A lot of sponsors would have to be gathered in order to make this a possibility.
A commitment letter has been written for the businesses that have agreed to donate to sign. About 33 lunches are provided to the members in East Carbon, whereas around 100 would be needed for the members of Carbon County’s center. If you are a part of a local business that would like to sponsor a meal for the senior citizens of Carbon County, please contact the center at (435) 636-3202.