shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com March 17, 2015 • Page 10 The Center ‘Rocks’ For A Cause By Shauna Marlette Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan Center, where you can place money in the jar to support the person of your choice.” Each pair of rockers will “battle” for 30 minutes. “While they are battling, the participants will be trying to raise money and people can call in with donations, as well,” Hauer said. “They are already out there fundraising, and I hope it gets to be a big competition to see who can raise the most money.” The event starts at 10 a.m. and goes until 2:30 p.m. It will also feature live broadcasts from Scott Kooistra at KYNT. Hauer noted that Cathy Lynch-Becker of Modern Woodmen of America has offered to match the first $500 raised. “I really think it is going to be a lot of fun and hope the community embraces it and helps us raise money for our March For Meals fundraiser,” Hauer said. “We do a lot of good work here at The Center and every dollar we raise goes to our meals Christy Hauer, executive director of The Center in Yankton, has a message she wants to share: “We are doing great things here.” In order to continue to offer a variety of programming, The Center is telling community leaders to get “Rockin’” — in a rocking chair that is. The Center is planning its first ever “Rock-AThon” for Tuesday, March 17. “We have lined up several community leaders who are going to have a ‘Rockoff’ against another community member to see who can raise the most money,” Hauer said. “There will be a winner of each rock-off, and an overall winner for the person who raises the most money. The rockers are already out there raising funds and we have jars with each of their pictures on them here at The programing. We served 46,836 meals last year; nearly 17,000 of those were through our Meals On Wheels program. We served $1,800-$2,000 free meals a month.” Last year, that totaled more than 5,000 free meals served in addition to all the other programming offered at The Center. Hauer explained that the Meals On Wheels program can be the difference for many seniors of remaining in their homes or needing to relocate to a nursing facility. “The nutritious meal, friendly visit and safety check help them cope with three of the biggest threats of aging: hunger, isolation and loss of independence,” she said. “It costs less to provide a senior Meals on Wheels for an entire year than it costs to spend one day in the hospital or six days in a nursing home. It saves us all billions of dollars in unnecessary Medicaid and Medicare expenses every year.” March For Meals is a national campaign, initiated and sponsored by the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), to raise awareness of Senior hunger and to encourage action on the part of the local community. Senior nutrition programs across the United States, like The Center in Yankton, promote March for Meals in their local communities through public events, partnerships with local businesses and schools, volunteer recruitment and fundraising initiatives. Meals on Wheels programs across the country thru Senior Nutrition Programs are a part of the Older Americans Act. The OAA is a primary piece of federal legislation that authorizes and supports vital nutrition services, both congregate and Meals on Wheels, to Americans ages 60 and older. March for Meals is a time when communities can come together to stand with their local Meals on Wheels programs and support our mission to end Senior hunger in America by the year 2020. Locally the Nutrition program serves nearly 47,000 meals annually. Over 5,000 meals are donated to Senior’s who are well below the poverty level and cannot afford to pay. Nationwide the Meals on Wheels program saves the government and tax payers millions of dollars in long term care cost, while keeping Seniors independent in the comfort of their own home. “We would like to thank our volunteers and area churches for delivering our meals. Beadle School, Yankton Middle School, businesses, individuals, service clubs, and churches are all stepping up to support our annual March for Meals campaign. City officials are volunteering their time to serve and deliver meals in an effort to create community awareness,” said Executive Director Christy Hauer. If you would like to eradicate Senior hunger and assure that “No Senior Goes Hungry” you can donate your time or money to the Yankton Area Meals on Wheels program. Plan to attend our 8th Annual Wine and Dine event on March 21st at The Center, tickets are only $30. Just call 665-4685 or email chauer@thecenteryankton.org to reserve tickets. “so no senior goes hungry...” ‘Champions Week’ By Rob Nielsen Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan Kristy Hauer and Julie Greenfield are pictured with two of the fundraising efforts currently going on at The Center in Yankton. The jars, each with a photo of the person they represent are part of the “Rockin’ For Meals” fundraiser going on Tuesday, March 17, while the shamrocks on the wall are part of a month-long raffle going on at The Center.” Thank You! for you support to help end Senior hunger in America by the year 2020. MV Shopper CLASSIFIEDS Family, Friends, Community. M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y IN PRINT & ONLINE To place your ad call... 605.665.5884 N. Hwy. 81 • Yankton 665-6394 The city of Yankton proclaimed its full support for March for Meals during Monday night’s meeting of the Yankton City Commission. Mayor Dave Carda read aloud a proclamation naming the week of March 16-21, 2015 as Community Champions Week to commemorate the 41st anniversary of Meals on Wheels and raise awareness of senior hunger. Christy Hauer, director of the Yankton Senior Center, was on hand to talk about the work The Center does in the community on the issue of senior hunger. “Senior hunger in Yankton is a serious problem, and I’m really thrilled to be able to shine a light on it and create some community awareness that it is a problem,” Hauer said. “We give away $1,800$2,000 worth of meals to people that cannot afford to purchase a meal. If you know about our program, it’s only $3.50 to purchase a meal, and they don’t even have that.” She gave the commission an example of just how much the program means to seniors in the community. “Just the other day, we had a couple come in to sign up for our commodities program and these two seniors are living on $800 per month,” she said. “When we gave them that box of food, they were just elated. It was like they won the lottery.” Hauer said The Center provides 47,000 total meals per year with 17,000 going to seniors that are home-bound. She added that The Center intends to make it more than a Community Champions Week, though. “It’s Community Champions Week and we’re making it a Community Champion’s Month — the whole month of March we’re creating awareness,” she said. Roy Wilcox, Agent 200 W 4th St Yankton, SD 57078 Bus: 605-665-7140 www.roywilcox.com We’re all in this together. State Farm® has a long tradition of being there. 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