FRANKLIN TWP TO TERMINATE COUNTY’S MEAL SITE FOR SENIORS CONTRACT
By Cindy Merckx/Editor The Sentinel of Gloucester County – week of Aug. 2-8, 2018 Vol 77 No. 17
“Gloucester County is not discontinuing the program,” said Debra Sellitto, Public Information Director for Gloucester County. “Franklin Township has chosen to terminate the county’s contract that allows Senior Services to utilize the Community Center as a congregate meal site on or about Aug. 31, however all participants are welcome at any other site. Although we have nothing in writing from the Township at this point, we have had a previous discussion that Franklin is working on details that would enable the Township to transport the participants of the Franklin site to either the county’s Glassboro or Williamstown nutrition site. The County will also make certain that Serv A Tray continues to those clients we serve in Franklin.”
According to Sellitto, Leona Mather, the Director of Senior Services, heard last week that Franklin Twp. had decided to conclude the agreement in the near future and went to Franklinville on Monday morning (7/30) to talk to the participants at the nutrition site to make sure they understood that this was not the County’s decision and that the county would continue to take care of the seniors.
Several senior citizens who were present at the Community Center on Monday at lunchtime shared their concerns with one another.
According to several seniors, Township Committeeman Dave Deegan came to their lunch program last Thursday (7/26) and informed them that the program was going to end on August 1st. They stated that they were surprised as they have been coming to the Franklin Township Community Center nutrition site for several years now and did not know officials were thinking of closing it.
“It gives us something to do instead of staying at home and having to eat our meal by ourselves. We like the friends we have made here and don’t want to go to another place where we may not be accepted. This is in our Township and we don’t want to go somewhere else,” said a woman from Malaga.
Several seniors said that they enjoy time conversing with each other. They shared that over the years they have seen the numbers of residents coming to the nutrition site each week drop off from time to time. They attributed the decline in participation was due to health or caregiving reasons, or that some of the regular senior meal attendants had passed away.
Franklin Township Mayor Leah Vassallo was asked for a comment and release the following statement: “The Franklin Township Committee continues to value our seniors as a treasured resource for the entire community. There has been much misinformation recently related to changes to the senior lunch program, and I would like to take a moment to address this. As a Committee, we continually look for ways to improve services to our residents, to eliminate wasteful practices, and to assure that our tax dollars are spent as effectively as possible.
We have been looking into the situation with the County-administered senior lunch program for several months. There have been some issues with the program and attendance has dropped to a very low number, even though it is open to all county residents.
By the contract (and this is not negotiable – we have checked), the program requires use of all three conference rooms and the commercial kitchen at the Community Center despite these low numbers, severely limiting other uses of the building throughout the day. We would like to both improve the services to seniors, while also making the building available for other purposes.
We have had extensive conversations with the county, which runs the same programs in other nearby municipalities, such as Monroe and Glassboro. We have started a conversation with the seniors to discuss what alternatives would work best for them, including a Township-run breakfast, possibly in combination with bussing to Monroe or Glassboro for lunch. (Meals on Wheels will not be affected.)
The bottom line is that we have not set a firm date for the current program to end, because we want to make sure we have services in place that better suit the needs of our seniors. We want to explore all options to make sure the seniors have more than they have now, and we want more seniors able to participate. There was a miscommunication last week, as to the target date for this transition to occur, and while I was not present, I can assure you that the move will be a prepared transition, designed to provide the seniors with at least the same level of food service, while also allowing for more utilization and income from the use of the Community Center. Any seniors with concerns or suggestions should contact the Township Administrator at 856-694-1234 or email me at vassallo.leah@gmail.com.
Malaga resident Jean Thompson commented that she is heartbroken by the Townships decision to stop the County lunch program for seniors. “I volunteered there for years and our senior citizens really enjoy the time they spend with each other. I don’t understand the logic to discontinue a program that 15-25 seniors enjoy every day. It makes no sense.”