LEMOORE -- Eugene Neal doesn't know what he would do without hot meals served daily at the Lemoore Senior Center. For the 69-year-old widower in Lemoore, it's as much a way to make sure he eats at least one balanced meal a day as it is a social outlet.

"I think it's very important because a lot of people like me want a good hot meal," Neal said. "My wife passed away last year. All my children live in Las Vegas. I'm all alone here. I love coming here because of my friends.

"It's hard cooking for myself all the time. It's very lonely. I depend on the center's meal program, and so do others," Neal said.

The Kings Tulare County Area Agency on Aging's recent action cuts Lemoore off from its nutrition program that serves Neal and hundreds of other elderly and frail residents in the county. Lemoore serves up meals to an average of 70 seniors a day and as many as 120 seniors on popular days. A majority of these seniors are low-income.

But seniors needn't worry.

The state-funded meal program may end in late August, but the center has a plan to start its own independent meal program -- with better menus and better nutrition.

"The lunch program will not go away," said Kethleen Elias, secretary to the board of directors. "We'll have more control over the menus and nutritional contents, such as sodium content of the meals.

"We're actually very excited. We'll have better tasting meals and have the meals cooked right at our site. We've been wanting to do that for a long time."

Aug. 29 will be the last day KT/AAA sends lunches to the Lemoore center. The new meal program will start Sept. 2.

The transition to the new meal program will be seamless, Elias said.

Under the current program, seniors were asked for a $2 donation for each meal. That would not change, Elias said. But no one would be denied a meal because of the inability to pay, she said.

"No stress. No questions asked," Elias said.

KT/AAA cooked its meals in Tulare County and delivered them to Lemoore and then to Avenal.

Starting in September, the Lemoore center will be using its own kitchen to cook up the meals.

"Imagine you sit here and you can smell the meals being cooked here all day," Elias said.

Lemoore is one of four areas to lose the KT/AAA-funded lunch program, along with Dinuba, Farmersville and Three Rivers. The decision had been expected for more than a month when the agency voted to cut the program to Lemoore last week.

The Lemoore Senior Center will remain open, community leaders said this week, dispelling a concern among some seniors who assume the center will close or meals will no longer be served.

"I want to stress that the senior center is not going to close," said Kings County Supervisor Tony Barba, who sits on the KT/AAA board. "KT/AAA will continue to provide other programs like health screenings and legal advice. The only thing being eliminated is the congregate meals."

Over the past month or two, plans to start an independent meal program have been in the works, Elias says.

The Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino has since donated proceeds from its community breakfast from last month, and expressed its commitment to help the nutrition program. Several local growers have also stepped up to the plate with a commitment to donate fresh produce, Elias said.

The Lemoore Senior Center is currently in talks with Good Thyme Catering to come up with menus. It's estimated to cost about $6,000 a month to continue the meal program, Elias said.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(July 25, 2008)