After Their Inception, Nutrition Projects Continue to Grow and Change October 1997 marked the 25th Anniversary of the Older Americans Act Nutrition Programs. As part of that celebration, the Administration on Aging recognized 25 meal projects for their responsiveness, creativity, fund-raising ability, volunteer contributions, and efficiency in providing nutrition services to older Americans. Among those recognized for their accomplishments were the Bozeman Senior Social Center of Bozeman, Montana and the Southern Mississippi Area Agency on Aging. Since it began in 1980, the Bozeman program has been growing to meet the needs of its elderly by having a cadre of volunteers who do all of the meal delivery. Participants also are involved with meal preparation and service, health clinics, educational seminars, a thrift store, wood-working shop and assistance with community outreach programs in the area.
Meals are prepared at the site and served five days a week.
At the congregate sites, meals are served cafeteria style as well as hosted several times a month when volunteer groups come in to help. The Bozeman Center now serves some 66,000 meals a year and has expanded by 5,000 congregate and 5,000 home-delivered meals annually over the past five years. Seniors are drawn to the programs thanks to a Sunday noon meal served once a month, pancake suppers served four times a year, and offering the center as a meeting place for many senior and health-related groups. With its new senior day care center program and enlarged space, the center plans to offer wellness programs and to expand the area for dining and fitness classes. While the ENP is set up as a congregate meals program, Southern quickly identified an increasing need for home-delivered meals and began to build alliances at the community level to leverage resources to support both nutrition components.