Seniors Strut
To Save Lunch

Facing cutbacks that could leave some seniors hungry, members of the Atwater Senior Center took matters into their own hands — with style.

Funding for subsidized lunches at centers like Atwater is on the chopping block this year. So far, senior centers have scaled back from five meals a week to four.

For some seniors, that daily meal is the only one they’ll eat. So Atwater Center Association members took it upon themselves to raise some lunch money.

The result? A well-attended fashion show, raffle, and bingo fundraiser took place Saturday afternoon at the Fair Haven senior center.

“I said, you can’t just keep going back to the same well,” said Marge Ottenbreit, who coordinated the center’s Spring Fling fashion show and bingo event. ​“Why don’t we throw our own party and make some money?”

Eighty-five people purchased tickets at $15 a piece to watch members of the center flaunt their styles with clothes on loan from Branford’s Dressbarn. Attendees also bought raffle tickets at $5 for eight.

“We hope they’ll restore our funding, but in the meantime, we’re finding ways to keep going,” said Filomena Fiondella, the center’s director. ​“Whatever money we make here today will go towards programming and to our meal program.”

“This is my house,” said Gus Cuomo, president of the Atwater Association. ​“And no one comes in and pushes us around.” 

With that resolve, enter fashion: Ottenbreit worked with Dressbarn of Branford to procure the outfits for the fashion show. Six women from the center modeled clothes picked out at the store, along with accessories, as the crowd cheered them on.

“They lent us the clothes for the afternoon,” said Pat Wallace, director of Elderly Services for New Haven.

Cuomo’s grandson, Michael Modine, donated $200 worth of submarine sandwiches for the event. He owns a Subway franchise in North Haven.

“He takes care of his grandfather,” Cuomo said.

Other local businesses stepped up for the event’s raffle, said Joan Forte, a volunteer who used to work for the Elderly Services department. Long Wharf Theater, the Yale Rep and the Shubert donated theater tickets, while Physical Fitness in Branford donated a three-month membership.

There were also crafts, art and other items up for raffle.

“We got so many great donations for the raffle,” Forte said, who sold tickets at $5 for eight, up until the last minute.

Bingo followed fashion, and people were excited to get started — there was a $25 prize on the line for any winner.

Cuomo sat on the stage, calling out numbers.

“The money we make today may only last for a couple months,” said Fiondella. ​“But we all came together and made this effort. It’s a really great start.” 

Everyone’s Being Fed

Saturday’s event was but one example of myriad efforts that are helping to preserve senior lunches in the face of cutbacks.

Senior centers are figuring out ways to keep meal programs going, Wallace said, taking a break from the bingo scene.

“The Community Soup Kitchen is providing meals for the Dixwell/Newhallville Center on Fridays,” she said. ​“And St. Anne’s Soup Kitchen is doing the same for the Bella Vista Center on Wednesdays.”

Seniors are invited to donate $2 for any meal at a senior center, she said. That money goes to food supply.

“But they’re really providing the labor for free,” she said of the soup kitchens.

At Atwater, Cuomo and director Fiondella are preparing meals themselves, with volunteers, Wallace said. ​“We’ve also received word that an anonymous donor will be paying for the lunches one day a week here,” she said.

The center has received donations from individuals and churches, and the seniors themselves are pitching in, she said. Dunkin’ Donuts is donating coffee as well.

“At the East Shore Center, it’s also a mix,” she said. ​“Some seniors are doing the cooking, sometimes the staff.” They’ve also received donations of subs from a Wooster Square restaurant — seniors pay a discounted rate of $2 per sandwich.

The campaign is a work in progress, she said. ​“But everyone’s getting fed.”

Multiple people have stepped up to the plate; it’s individuals and organizations who are making it all work, she said.

“And it’s been inspiring to see.”