Stirring the pot is getting more difficult at the Senior Citizens Activity Centre kitchen because it’s been 40 years since the kitchen had an upgrade.
Last January the centre received a $20,000 grant from the B.C. government, of which $8,000 can be used for kitchen upgrades. The rest will go to offer food safe courses.
When the funding was presented to the centre Cariboo Chilcotin Liberal MLA Donna Barnett and then Minister of State for Seniors Ralph Sultan, several seniors present said it would cost $30,000 to $40,000 to overhaul the kitchen properly.
It needs new flooring, a dishwasher, stove, counter tops, cupboards, fridges, freezers and more.
Appliances should be industrial type. Right now they are household models.
There have been several “generous” donations from the community, and the society has been busy doing its own fundraising, but more funds are needed to complete all of the upgrade to bring the kitchen up to standard.
“I think there are people out there who would like to make donations in the memory of their parents who were previous members of the society,” said board member Ruby Williams who volunteers in the kitchen regularly.
“We would like to invite people to get involved in the ongoing renovations,” Williams said. “They can make monetary donations or time.”
And the society can issue tax receipts because it’s a non-profit, added board member Ed Novakowski.
Despite the kitchen’s drawbacks, volunteers are cooking and serving lunches daily to anywhere between 30 and 50 people, depending on the day of the week.
“We’re hoping to get started renovating in the middle of August when the kitchen will be closed for two weeks,” said centre manager Glenda Winger. “We close down so we can give our volunteers two weeks off.”
The first priority is to replace the flooring and cupboards.
“We have grown so much,” said board chair Sondra Giske. “We’re close to 500 members.”