Sedalia Senior Center Gala is June 24
Tickets are on sale for the “Hear Our Stories” Gala event benefiting the Sedalia Senior Center.
The senior center will honor three of the community’s most outstanding older citizens at its first-ever gala event and auction scheduled for June 24.
Tickets, which are $50 each, or $400 for a table of eight, are on sale at the senior center in the Heckart Community Center, 1800 W. Third St.; by calling 660-826-071; or from any Center Services Board member. The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the senior center dining room.
The gala will honor these three individuals:
Rhonda Chalfant, Ph.D., author, columnist for the Sedalia Democrat, and consultant for preservation and history.
Lauretta E. Emerson, retired registered nurse and advocate for civil rights, especially the right to equal access to quality health care.
Allen Hawkins, former mayor of Sedalia, retired monument maker, and U.S. Marines veteran of the Korean War.
All three of these guests of honor are receiving services from the senior center.
The fundraising goal is $25,000, which will help the center continue to serve more than 33,000 meals to older adults annually. The center, operated by Care Connection for Aging Services, depends on the local community for more than one-third of its operating budget.
The center, which moved in March 2022 to the Heckart Community Center, provides hot lunches to people 60 and older in its dining room for a suggested contribution of $5 toward the total cost of the meal, $9.50. The center also delivers meals to the homes of qualified older adults.
--Care Connection for Aging Services, a non-profit area agency on aging, operates 21 locations in 13 West Central Missouri counties, including Pettis. The mission is to provide opportunities to create positive aging experiences. Besides meals, the center provides recreational activities, care management, income tax assistance, benefits enrollment and more. To learn more, call Care Connection at 1-800-748-7826.