Erick’s senior meal program restarts on December 2nd. It is open to area seniors (60+) or handicapped/disabled individuals. They serve meals twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays at lunchtime and deliver to homes in Erick or they can be picked up at the Main Street Bakery & Café. The cost to each participant is $3 per meal and the rest is funded by the Community Expansion of Nutrition Assistance (CENA) grant that is received through Southwestern Oklahoma Development Authority (SWODA) yearly.
It is a set menu. The Main Street Bakery & Café provides the meals and creates the menu for the month. They serve a complete meal consisting of a meat-based entrée and 2 sides including a vegetable.
It is open to residents in the Erick area, so not exclusively Erick only. If they live outside of Erick, we ask that they pick up their meal at the café as those can’t be delivered.
Current records only go back to 2010, but it’s believed to have been going yearly for over 20 years.
The program usually lasts about 6 months. The deadline to expend all of the funding for the year is typically the middle of June so the program does not usually go past then.
The City of Erick and the Roger Miller Senior Citizen Center apply for grant funds yearly from CENA administered by SWODA for this program. They generally are awarded funds in October and begin serving meals by January but are starting in December this year. Last year, they received $11,040 and had 79 participants (double the previous years). This year they’ve been awarded $13,031 in funds and do expect more participants.
They are also accepting donations through the “Share-a-Plate” program. With the help of a raffle and generous donations they were able to raise $7600 in funds to extend the program 950 additional meals past the grant funding. Every donation - big or small - directly supports the meal program. Your support truly makes a difference.
Menu for the first week: Tue Dec 2 – Turkey Dressing Casserole, Potato, Green Beans. Fri Dec 5 – Mexican Casserole, Salad, Corn, Roll For more information contact city hall at 580-526-3924.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We will print the menu every week.
