Senior center gets funds

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The Weston County Senior Center received one of the 30 food relief checks awarded by First Lady Jennie Gordon’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative and the Wyoming Governor’s Residence Foundation, according to a press release from the Wyoming Hunger Initiative. The release noted that the Natrona and Cheyenne Meals on Wheels sites also designated funds to this purpose. 
According to Carolyn Shields, executive director at the senior center, the Newcastle facility received $250 to put toward food needs sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Donations totaled over $10,000 and were part of the $80,000 allocated to anti-hunger nonprofit organizations throughout Wyoming’s 23 counties in July and August, the release said. It noted that these response funds are to be directed specifically to feed families and seniors during this time. 
“Wyoming Hunger Initiative’s mission is to end childhood hunger in Wyoming but when COVID hit and so many generous donors stepped up to provide for hungry families in Wyoming, we knew we needed to shift to include all people who were in need of food,” Gordon said in the release. “There are numerous senior centers around the state of Wyoming who are providing meals during this time and we felt it was equally as important to include them in our distribution.”
The first lady had previously worked with the Wyoming Department of Health’s Aging Division to ask citizens to send letters and cards to residents in the state’s nursing facilities and assisted living centers. 
“Older Wyomingites, AARP Wyoming, and our members have long received support from those inside the Governor’s residence, but the work of the First Lady on behalf of our state’s age 50 and over has been truly outstanding,” said AARP Wyoming State Director Sam Shumway in the press release. “The First Lady and Department of Health’s letters and cards program is a great way to reach out to those struggling with social isolation, which impacts both mental and physical well-being.”