Meals on Wheels gets $33,000 grant for new facility

By CHERIL VERNON

PALESTINE — Meals on Wheels of Palestine, Inc. which serves both on-site and home delivered meals to seniors in Anderson, Cherokee, and Rusk counties, has received a $33,000 Sustainability Grant from the Meals on Wheels Association of America Foundation.

The grant will be used to renovate the auditorium section of a building located 200 N. Church St. in Palestine, that Meals on Wheels purchased last fall.

The auditorium will be used for special fund-raising events and to rent out to the public.

“The idea of the grant was to help organizations to fund a program whereby they could use the grant to help raise funds for their program on an ongoing basis,” Meals on Wheel Executive Director Lois Durant said.

Meals on Wheels serves almost 800 meals per day to the three counties it serves. The present kitchen is located in the Palestine Senior Center at 125 Kickapoo St., and it has become too small.

Since the program continues to grow, it became necessary for the program to come up with an alternative. The Meals on Wheels board decided to purchase the building which has previously housed a church, a Christian school and a Brookshire’s Grocery Store.

“The floor plan is perfect for a senior center,” said Durant, adding that plans for a new state of the art kitchen and dining room are being drawn up by architect James Clark of Tyler.

“While original plans did not include a complete building renovation,” Durant said, “it is rapidly becoming such.”

Since the facility was purchased, Meals on Wheels Inc. officials have uncovered several problems that will have to be taken care of prior to use of the building, including: doors, ramps and restrooms that do not meet ADA standards; the reconstruction of storage facilities due to fire codes; and the discovery of asbestos, with a cost of over $15,000 for abatement.

“During the Christmas weekend, thieves stole three air conditioners at the back of the building,” Durant said. “We have learned that insurance may not cover this, which potentially adds another expense of over $8,000.”

Graffiti taggers also have been at this building, painting the whole back of the building as well as the side and front.

“A very kind local minister Danny Torrez has tried to paint over the side and front, but the whole building will still need to be repainted,” Durant said. “This is a 17,000 square foot building.”

In a separate incident, vandals broke in and destroyed three double glass windows, interior window and all mirrors in the building. While doors have been boarded up, break-ins are still occurring at the site, leading Meals on Wheels to incur the expense of security cameras and an alarm system to protect the property.

“In spite of some of the pitfalls, the Meals on Wheels Board and staff are still convinced that this was still a good decision,” Durant said. “This facility will benefit the meals program greatly.”

The facility’s new kitchen will have the capacity to produce over 1,200 meals per day. It will be more efficient in packaging the meals to send out to the other sites.

Besides the meals program the new facility will house a twice-weekly health clinic, an arts and crafts room, an exercise room, and a game room. Another non-profit agency Champions for Children of Anderson County will be housed there as well.

The 4,019 square foot auditorium and stage will be used for weekly dances and other special fund-raising events. It also will be rented out to other organizations and individuals for their special events.

“The receipt of this $33,000 grant is a great start in the efforts of Meals on Wheels to provide a facility that everyone will be proud of,” Durant said.

The project budget has reached almost $800,000. Donations from any resident of the Meals on Wheels of Palestine, Inc. service area may be sent to Meals on Wheels of Palestine, Inc. Building Fund, P.O. Box 1365; Palestine, TX 75802.