News

When is the last time you tasted a cucumber? What about an orange or an apple? For one home-bound Lamar senior, she couldn’t remember the last time she had tasted fresh produce. After a mistake with her normal food delivery service, she travelled to the senior center one Friday afternoon to get food to take home.

When she arrived, volunteers and staff greeted her and filled up a grocery bag full of food for her. They offered her fresh vegetables and fruit, but she refused, saying she didn’t want to take from someone else. Eventually the staff convinced her and she was sent home with a large box full of fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh milk, bakery items like sliced bread, and more.

“She was so excited to get fresh milk with cereal [instead of powdered milk]!” said Lamar Senior Center Nutrition Program Manager Stormy Cuba. “She was so excited for fresh fruits and vegetables. We told her to take a few apples and oranges too!”

Stormy said that the ability to give fresh produce and milk to their seniors comes, in part, from their partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest. “Fresh fruits and vegetables that we just take for granted, that’s why we love our jobs and our partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest… We get to give people that,” said Stormy.

One man came to the Lamar Senior Center after his power had been turned off, and he didn’t have a way to keep food refrigerated or frozen. The Lamar Senior Center was able to call the city and help him work out a payment plan as well as provide him with food and cleaning supplies from Ozarks Food Harvest.

Now, Stormy says that he’s not only able to keep his power on, he doesn’t have to choose between paying his electricity bill or buying food. He also brings home food from the senior center for his daughter and grandchild whenever he needs a little extra. “He’s a proud man again,” said Stormy.

Lauren Thornton, the Lamar Senior Center Manager, said that seniors are often forgotten in the conversation on food insecurity. She said that with the help of local officials and businesses, as well as local partnerships such as Ozarks Food Harvest, the Lamar Senior Center is able to “have a voice for the elderly” in the area and serve them all, whether they are home-bound or not.

One group of older women picks up fresh produce at the end of the week and cans it before giving it away to neighbors who need it. “The older generation is not inclined to ask for help when they need it, but they are also extremely resourceful and good at conserving food,” Lauren said.

The Lamar Senior Center serves a hot lunch each weekday at 11:30 a.m. for about 40-55 people each day. Once a week, they deliver a week’s worth of meals to home-bound rural Lamar seniors. In August, they served 766 lunches and delivered 819 home-bound senior meals to the community.

Ozarks Food Harvest is proud to partner with the Lamar Senior Center and be a part of creating impactful moments for generations of families and individuals in the Lamar area. More information on their work can be found at aaaregionx.org/activities.