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Lundie Cavazos, center lead at the Montgomery Senior Center, says she has two main concerns when serving seniors: Proper nutrition and good mental health. In a rural town like Buffalo, Missouri, the senior center helps with both through nourishing meals and nourishing community.

Proper nutrition is especially important to help seniors stay healthy and independent, but Lundie has noticed many seniors in the area who aren’t getting the food they need to thrive. She explained that a major factor is the high costs of food and basic necessities.

“A lot of our seniors were doing good until the prices of everything went up, and now they need a little help,” Lundie explained. “They got a raise on their Social Security, but then Medicare went up, so they really didn’t get anything. A lot of it has to do with cost.”

To help seniors have access to well-rounded meals, the senior center serves a hot lunch Monday through Friday every week, and homebound seniors can sign up for home-delivered meals. Lundie knows their food programs are important because of the seniors who take the time to call and tell her just how great the meal was that day.

But the senior center itself is facing the same high prices and increased need as the people they’re serving. That’s where Ozarks Food Harvest’s partnership helps. “If we didn’t get food from Ozarks Food Harvest,” said Lundie, “I don’t know what we would do. We have such a low budget. I’ll have a senior come in and it’s the middle of the month, they’re out of money, they don’t get food stamps and have no food. Well, with the stuff we get from Ozarks Food Harvest, I can put together a little bag for them. Ozarks Food Harvest also helps us with our homebound meals, and our cook makes all kinds of stuff with it [at lunch].”

With food from Ozarks Food Harvest, Lundie and the senior center staff can worry less about food and focus more on programs such as exercise, pop-up health clinics, games, case management, social gatherings and more – programs that help seniors maintain the all-around health and wellness they deserve.

Thanks to the Montgomery Senior Center, local seniors have a safe, happy place to go when they need help, or even just to connect with their peers. Lundie has two things she’d like to tell the community about senior centers.

The first is that seniors can come and go as they please without obligation. It’s a place meant to help older adults maintain their independence. The second is that, “Senior centers are important because it helps seniors avoid depression. They get out, they meet people, they make new friends, they learn new things and it keeps them moving and busy.”

The senior center is a positive place to be, and it’s not shameful to want human connection or to ask for help. That’s what the senior center is for. Ozarks Food Harvest is glad to partner with an organization that is making life brighter for older adults in their community. To learn more about the Montgomery Senior Center’s activities and resources, visit senioragemo.org/locations/montgomery-senior-center or their Facebook page at facebook.com/BuffaloMontgomerySeniorCenter.