Red Cross Prepares Meals at Brookhaven Lab for Seniors in Central Suffolk
Thanksgiving Feasts Will be Delivered to More Than 650 Seniors on November 23
November 10, 2004
UPTON, NY - Starting at 6 a.m. on weekdays, the large, industrial kitchen in the Medical Department at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory is bustling with activity, as kitchen aides start to prepare hot lunches for more than 650 seniors — one-half of them homebound and one-half in group settings — in central Suffolk. Brookhaven Lab donates the use of the kitchen to the American Red Cross for their senior meal program, administered through the Suffolk County Office for the Aging, and funded by Suffolk County and New York State.
"The kitchen originally served Brookhaven Lab's on-site hospital, but, in 1985, with the space vacant for several years, we agreed to donate the use of the space to the Red Cross," said their Brookhaven Lab host Georgia Irving. "While the space is rent-free, the Red Cross pays for maintenance of the kitchen equipment."
Nancy Garcia, Manager of the Red Cross Brookhaven Nutrition Program, said food is ordered in bulk from several distributors and cooked on the Laboratory premises, then Red Cross staff and volunteers deliver it to homebound seniors and to senior centers. Garcia estimates that about 20 Brookhaven Lab employees volunteer their time each year to the program.
The meals are varied, repeated every five weeks, and they meet state and county nutritional guidelines. All recipients of the meals are at least 60 years old, while the homebound meal recipients are deemed frail, disabled, or nutritionally at risk after being interviewed, as required by the Suffolk County Office for the Aging. There are no financial criteria for eligibility in the program, but recipients can make a suggested voluntary contribution for the food, if possible.
The seniors in the program will be treated to a special holiday dinner on November 23, consisting of turkey with stuffing and gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, creamed spinach, dinner roll, milk, and pumpkin pie.
Preparing a meal in Brookhaven Lab's kitchen are (from left) Red Cross workers Sharon Scruggs, Novella Ferguson, assistant manager Debra Divita, Adam Davis, Jason Phipps, manager Nancy Garcia, and Brookhaven Lab host Georgia Irving. The Red Cross's Tony Catonia picks up the food for delivery. (Click on image to download hi-res version.)
2004-10242 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
