Senior nutrition center gets boost with $67,360 grant

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Chaffee Senior Nutrition Center is set to receive a $67,360 grant that will help it replace its aging van fleet and other equipment over the next two years.

The grant was awarded by the Missouri Foundation for Health, a conversion foundation through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri. More than $33.8 million is being awarded through the grants in 2005.

The Chaffee center delivers meals to residents throughout the northern Scott County area, except for Scott City, with vans covering hundreds of miles each day to deliver meals to about 130 home-bound seniors.

Thank to the grant, the senior center will be able to purchase two new vans to replace two aging ones. The funds will also be used to purchase equipment for meal preparations and make repairs to the center's current facility.

Administrator Susan Pobst said the grant is a lifesaver for the small-town nutrition center.

"We do a lot of fund raising, but when you have to buy vans and equipment and keep your doors open and pay the utilities, it gets tough," said Pobst.

"These grants make it possible for us to purchase good, reliable vans."

The center was started in 1973, and some of the equipment currently in use in the kitchen comes from that era, said Pobst.

No match is required for the grant, and the center was assisted in the grant writing process by the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission.