GERONIMO, Okla_Like many other
senior citizen nutrition sites in Southwest Oklahoma,
the center in Geronimo is in danger of closing down.
The Delta Nutrition
Program, which oversees Geronimo's site, announced last month that their center
and several others were in danger of closing because of federal budget cuts. Geronimo's
center sees about 18 seniors per day, which is not enough to keep it open. But some of the center's employees and the
seniors who visit say they're still fighting for it.
Geronimo's
nutrition center has been feeding local seniors since 1988. It's managed to
stay open from grants and a $2 daily admission fee for visiting seniors. That $2
is all most of them can afford. The center just received a $3,800 ASCOG grant
for the 2012-2013 fiscal year but center officials say they're worried that it
may be their last.
Dorothy McNabb
has been coming to Geronimo's nutrition center for the past two years. She said
the women have become a part of her family. So when she heard that a place she
calls her second home may close, she was worried.
"I was so
upset, I just can't imagine us not having a place to go everyday. We would miss
so much. The whole community, they were very saddened."
She said the
center offers seniors a way to stay active and socialize. Not to mention, gain
access to nutritious foods.
"It is not
like I cook at home. Where, we would just have leftovers and leftovers of the
same thing. You get a variety of food each day."
Site manager Joanie
Sutton said the reason this center is on the chopping block is because not
enough seniors are coming in each day. At least, not when compared to larger
cities like Lawton
but she said those figures are skewed.
"We are a
smaller community. So my numbers are going to be low. Some of them still work
over 60, so they can't make it up here from 8 to 1."
Sutton said
that in the last year, at least five more seniors have been coming in per day.
Time will tell if that increase will be enough to stay open. But for the Geronimo
community, this center means everything.
"We do
puzzles, we do painting, we do crafts, I started a library and they take books
out. If the center wasn't here, I don't know what they would do. Some of them I
would be afraid they would just pass on because they are not busy."
Sutton said she
has been talking with the Geronimo City Council to come up with other ways to
fund the center, such as grants and fundraisers.
The Delta Nutrition
Center said they will make a decision
on which sites in Southwest Oklahoma will
close October 9th.
