DUNCAN, Okla_A senior
citizens center in Duncan
is facing closure if they don't get more money, and soon. The director of the
center died last August and no one else stepped in to fill out the paperwork
needed to get money from the local United
Way. Now the people at the center say they just
want to come up with more money so the doors don't close, and now are turning
to the public for help.
Right now the Douglass
Senior Center Activities Director Shirley King said they have $2,000 to last
until April of 2013. She said if they can come up with at least $2,100 more,
they will be able to last at least until April when they will hopefully get
their money from the United Way, which they will apply for this November. She said
with the extra money they will be able to stay afloat.
"This is
kind of my second home. I'd be pretty upset if they close this place,"
Joel Bozel said.
Bozel is just
one of a few dozen who comes to the senior citizen center every day. He said
without a place like Douglass, he and his friends won't have somewhere to go
and feel comfortable. But that may be the case if the money doesn't start
coming in.
"We're
down past the $2,000 mark now and what money we do have is not going to keep us
in funding until April of next year," King said.
The Douglass Senior Center
can apply for a new grant in November, but won't find out if they are approved
until March of 2013 and the funds won't become available until April. So the $2,000
they have is going to be spread thin between employee salaries, center bills
and senior activities.
"I don't
see it being possible, if it comes down to it, and I have to go with out pay, I
don't have a problem with it because I didn't come over here for the money
anyway I saw that there was a need and I'm trying to meet that need."
King said the
seniors who come through everyday deserve a place to get away and socialize
with one another. Without Douglass open she fears where they will go without
it.
"I don't
rest well at night, thinking about this because I have such a passion for them.
To me we're all going that direction and if they don't have anything in place, for
the next generation are they going to have any place so its like setting things
in order, we're supposed to be there for the seniors."
If you would
like to help out the Douglass Senior Center,
they will have a barbecue on September 7th at the Douglass Senior
Center gym. It will be
from 11 am until 2 pm and cost $7 a plate.
If you can't make the dinner, they will also gladly accept donations. You
can run those by the East Side
Duncan Senior
Center anytime between 9
and noon Monday through Friday.
