Winter Senior Center fundraising committee seeking community support

Winters seniors are filled with enthusiasm and eagerness as the reality of the long-awaited Winters Senior Center comes closer to becoming a reality. That enthusiasm is based on the State’s recent approval of the grant, submitted last year. As the City of Winters awaits the final step is this process and the ground-breaking of the building, members of the fundraising committee are already fast at work with the established Winter Senior Center Equipment Fund. The WSC Equipment Fund has set its goal at $750K to fulfill the needs of the community who will utilize the Winters Senior Center. They believe the community can unite on behalf of seniors in Winters. Without this massive goal and fundraising effort, the State’s grant leaves the center unable to open for programs. The grant specifically disallows the State’s funds to be used for furniture and most of what is required for the building to serve its senior community. The work of the WSC Equipment Fund members intend to amass the funds necessary to make the center functional for a large segment of the community. Without these funds the commercial kitchen, dishes, couches, chairs, tables, television, program needs, and a coordinator would not be available. These items are imperative so that the programs identified three years ago, through the City of Winters Senior Program project, conducted by the City with Sheila Allen, RN, Ph.D., can become a reality. In a 2018 survey of Winters seniors, the Winter Senior Program Project identified requested services such as: computer classes, movie nights, English and Spanish classes, cultural cooking classes, exercise and dance classes, dementia education, senior yoga, adult respite care and more. The Winters Senior Center will be the best example of the Winters community, as it is the best example of communities everywhere that have supported the building of their Center. The uniqueness of the Winters Senior Center should be, and will be, representative of the Winters community. Those who are 50 and over make up a larger portion of the community when compared to Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento. It is also the last major city to receive such a facility. Marlene Bell, Marianne Boyer, Karen May and Sandy Vickrey, who were recently appointed by the Winters City Council to the fundraising committee, will be engaging the Winters community to raise the funds needed to support the opening of the Winters Senior Center. The WSC Edquipment Fund is a 501c3 non-profit. Community donations can be sent to: City of Winters, 318 First Street, Winters, CA 95694. On the memo line, write “Winters Senior Center Equipment Fund.”