Letter to the Editor

Kitchen plan needs support

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

A little over a year ago, the Mountain Home Senior Center began our capital campaign to "Save our Kitchen." This grew out of a necessity to replace some very aging equipment.

To replace this equipment, it was found that it was necessary to remodel and update the current kitchen to bring our 40-year-old kitchen up to current codes to continue one of our main functions to provide congregate and home-delivered meals.

We have worked very hard to raise funds for this project, and we are now nearing a deadline. Initially, the estimate for this project was $300,000. We decided this was necessary, and we proceeded.

With the great help from the city, we have received a Department of Commerce Block grant for $150,000, a USDA grant for $20,000 and a commitment from the city and county for $10,000 each. This left a balance of $110,000 from the center.

By raising money for our Capital Campaign and taking money from all our reserve and emergency funds, we reached this amount.

Fast forward to this past Monday (June 19), and we were notified that we needed an additional amount of $30,000 for contingencies and for construction and equipment. The grants will not carry over, and the project must be completed by the end of the year.

At this time, the center is about tapped out, and we are wondering if anyone in our community has any great ideas about quick fund raising. If you have any ideas or suggestions, we would appreciate hearing from you. Thank you for listening.

— Connie Cruser, Mountain Home Senior Center board

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