Support an important cause, senior meals

Many of the communities in our area have senior and nutrition centers that touch a lot of lives every day.

We recently featured the Broseley center, which dishes up as many as 250 meals on the popular fish Fridays. The group is in the midst of purchasing property for the much-needed parking area expansion.

This is one of many such places that dot our counties. You’ll find others, like the Poplar Bluff Northside Nutrition Center, or organizations serving meals to seniors and the disabled in Neelyville, Naylor, Dexter, Doniphan, Malden, Puxico, Williamsville and Van Buren, just to name a few.

We want to thank all of the workers involved in these projects.

Many of these facilities provide the only hot and nutritious meal some folks in our area may receive in a day.

For the centers that offer homebound meal delivery, that driver may be the only person the recipient sees all week.

We know that in Poplar Bluff, on more than one occasion, it was a homebound meal delivery driver that called emergency responders to alert them to a senior in need of medical care. When the stories were shared with us, it was made clear that it could have been hours or more before someone else became aware of the emergency and helped.

Many of these centers receive some assistance from federal or state agencies, but they also rely on us to support their efforts. The next time you’re looking for a lunch option, considering visiting one of the these organizations. You’ll find good food, good company and a chance to spend your lunch dollars supporting an important resource in our area.

Some options area:

• Daisy Morris Nutrition Center, 110 S. Ash St. Campbell. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., with the center open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Card games, dominoes, health screenings and bingo are also offered. Also serves Holcomb.

• The Lunchbox, located in Dexter, 23 West Stoddard. It offers catfish on Wednesdays, with meals served during the week at noon. The center is open from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and also has regular activities, such as bingo, music and trivia. It not only serves Dexter, but also Bernie, Bloomfield and Essex.

• Doniphan Nutrition Center, 715 E. Washington. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and the center is open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. It also serves Briar, Gatewood, Oxly, Fairdealing, Pine, Bardley, Currentview and Grandin. Regular activities include quilting, games, gospel singing and health programs.

• Malden Nutrition Center, 117 E. Main St. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and the center is open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Bingo and health clinics are offered. Also serving Parma and Clarkton.

• Naylor Nutrition Center, 118 E. Broad St. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and the center is open 6:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

• Northside Nutrition Center, 506 E. Hazel, Poplar Bluff. Exercise classes, health screenings and bingo offered.

• Puxico Nutrition Center, 335 N. Harty St. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. and the center is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Help with computers, bingo and health screenings are offered. Also serving Wappapello, Asherville and Shook.

• Qulin Nutrition Center, 235 Second St. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and the center is open 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Bingo and health screenings are offered. Also serves the communities of Broseley, Fisk and Oglesville.

• Carter County Nutrition Center, 116 Ball Park Road, Van Buren. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and the center is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

• Williamsville Nutrition Center, Highway 49. Lunch is served 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and the center is open 6:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Quilting, exercise, puzzles and health screenings offered.