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Lander church and youth group donation benefits our local seniors

Experience, Inc., a nonprofit organization, is the Area Agency on Aging for Warren & Forest Counties. Experience has been providing supportive services to our local senior citizen community for 48 years. Our mission is to provide services and programs that help our senior citizens to remain independent, in their homes, and active in their communities. One of these essential services is the Home-Delivered Meals Program. This program enables seniors to receive nutritional meals delivered right to their door step.

This program is incredibly important in assisting our large local senior population. Imagine not being able to get to the grocery store because of inclement weather and your cupboards are bare, or being home-bound due to an infirmity, or because of a fixed income, simply not being able to afford nutritional food. Unfortunately, this is an everyday reality for many seniors in our community.

Recently, due to a seven month long State budget impasse, Experience found itself running out of funds to support the Home-Delivered Meals program and many other indispensable services. We had no choice but to put people on waiting lists when they called us for help.

It is incredibly difficult to tell a senior who calls in asking for some support that because of the lack of State funding it may be months before they can expect any help. This is made especially harsh when you know that their available alternatives are so limited and that the lack of this assistance may mean the inability of the senior to stay in their home. A plea for community donations was sent out and answered by the Lander United Methodist Church in Lander, Pa and by the Lander Methodist Church Youth Group.

Fiscal Supervisor for Experience Carrie Ludwick who is member of the Lander church was asked how her nonprofit organization was faring due to the lack of State funding. When she told them about the waiting list for Home Delivered Meals the response from the church was an immediate donation. When the Lander United Methodist Church Youth Group found out that people were in need of daily deliveries of food they too wanted to help with a donation.

The two donations together were enough to remove the senior citizens from the waiting list and pay for a month of Home-Delivered Meals for each of them. By the following month the State released emergency funding to social services. The seniors that needed a little help will continue to receive the support they require to stay in their homes and to continue to be the invaluable part of our community that they deserve to be.

Experience, Inc., the Warren & Forest Counties Area Agency on Aging would like to thank the Lander United Methodist Church for its charitable donation that enabled us to help our seniors in need and a special thanks to the Lander United Methodist Youth Group for their donation and for their compassionate insight on how important our seniors truly are.

Thank you to all of the people, organizations, and businesses that donated during the State budget impasse. Your donations made a difference! (Listed on page12)

If you are a senior or know a senior that needs assistance, call at 814-723-3763.

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