All summer long the Salem Senior Center is offering free lunches for any school aged children (five-18 years old) from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. every weekday and a snack served from 1-2 p.m. until school is back in session.
The Salem Senior Center typically focuses on aging individuals in the community as a branch of the Central Missouri Area Agency on Aging but, according to Jody Schaefer (lead administrator for Aging Best in Salem) the staff wanted to do more to serve the Salem area community. That’s why they decided to begin serving lunch to kids while school is out.
Schaefer said the staff is hoping to cultivate intergenerational relationships that are ripe for the passage of wisdom by giving kids and seniors an opportunity to interact in a casual environment. According to Schaefer, kids have movies, board games and card games to play with the seniors who frequent their lunches.
“In our experience [at Aging Best], the older generation has a lot of wisdom that they can pass on to the younger generation,” said Schaefer.
Schaefer pointed out the several needs that this opportunity can help meet for the community, including feeding children facing hunger during summer months and strengthening relationships between different generations in the community.
“We want people in the community to know that we care about them, no matter what age they are,” said Schaefer. After all, people are always aging, it’s just that some have been aging for longer and others are just getting started.
For more information contact the Salem Senior Center at 729-2373 or stop by at 604 McGrath Ln. in Salem.
