Senior Center should be our priority

Thank you so much, Port Orchard Independent, for the Oct. 8 article on the Givens Senior Center meeting (“Senior center seeks sponsorship, money from city or county”).

Many people may not know that the Senior Center at Givens Community Center offers card games, potlucks, pool tournaments an socializing, plus it offers a yearly student scholarship and contribute donations to area schools for students who can’t afford school supplies.

The give much to our community in the present, and the members have contributed to a good share of the county’s property taxes in years past.

The program used to have a director paid for by the county, who oversaw the entire Community Center and helped the Senior Center coordinate activities, provide ideas for projects and scheduled field trips.

That ended in 2002 and the Senior Center has struggled to continue providing senior services, all on a volunteer level.

But they need help. As experienced and skilled as they are, they do not have the expertise a trained director would provide to the hundreds of citizens currently members of the center.

That’s what they sorely need.

The city and county have been approached many times and always said money wasn’t available, but there are programs sponsored by the county that don’t provide an inkling of the service that the Senior Center does for so many.

I think the county should prioritize where our tax money is being spent and reconsider providing services where they are truly needed.

LORETTA ANDERSON

Port Orchard

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