Pleasantville Mulls Changes to Senior Center Lunch Program
A stagnant number of senior citizens who participate in the daily lunch at the Clinton Street Senior Center in Pleasantville may force the village to make changes to the facility’s program.
Joni Ehrlich, the village’s coordinator of senior services, said attendance has hovered at 25 to 30 participants per day in recentmonths. She noted that a variety of factors, including attrition of older residents and a new chef are contributing to the change; however, most significant is the influx of younger seniors. The center is open to residents who are 55 and older,
Ehrlich said many people in their fifties and sixties are still working or taking care of grandchildren and don’t visit in the afternoon. She suggested that in the future the center could consider phasing out lunches and hosting breakfast or dinner instead.
“The lonely meal is dinner. The lonely meal isn’t lunch. You eat your lunch by yourself your entire life,” Ehrlich said.
Trustee Mindy Berard expressed concern about the possibility of eliminating lunch at the center, noting that 25 seniors is still a significant number. However, Ehrlich noted that the current participation level is not covering the cost of the program and that the funds could be better used for other activities.
“[For] the current seniors, the food is not their priority. They want activities, they want to be stimulated,” Ehrlich said.
Younger seniors have requested programs such as hiking and wine tastings, Ehrlich added.
Village Administrator Patricia Dwyer suggested that some of the recreation fees that the village is expected to receive this year could be used to fund recreation activities at the center. She said the village would receive a $340,000 recreation payment from Toll Brothers in connection with the developer’s proposed condominium project on Washington Avenue.
Another option would be to outsource the food preparation to a local restaurant instead of utilizing an in-house chef. This would lower the overhead for the center and could allow the kitchen, which has aging appliances that may soon need replacement, to be used to accommodate other activities.
“If we’re looking at capital improvements in the kitchen anyway, then [outsourcing] ought to be totally open,” Trustee Steven Lord said.
Although changes may not be imminent, Ehrlich emphasized that the phasing out of meals at the center would not impact the delivery of meals to homebound residents. Currently, meals are delivered to Pleasantville residents, and are also prepared for several dozen residents in nearby Chappaqua and Armonk.
Although meals for residents outside Pleasantville’s boundaries are not delivered, Trustee Jonathan Cunningham questioned why the village was providing the service to these areas.
“Why are we subsidizing two of the richest towns in Westchester with this program,” he questioned. “I love the program but why are we subsidizing their residents with our tax money?”
Dwyer and Trustee Colleen Griffin-Wagner said because the food is being made for Pleasantville seniors anyway, making some extra meals helps bring a little more money to the program. Griffin-Wagner noted, however, that the respective towns should be charged a fee for the service in addition to charging the $5 per meal to recipients. Currently the $5 fee only covers the cost of the food and container.
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