Office for Aging gets stimulus funds for nutrition, employment programs

CANTON — The St. Lawrence County Office for the Aging's senior nutrition and employment programs recently got a $41,983 boost through the federal stimulus package.

The funding is channeled through the state Office for the Aging, said Barbara R. McBurnie, director.

Mrs. McBurnie said the funding will help offset the cost of food for the nutrition program, which provides low-cost lunches to people 60 and older at eight sites — LBSH Housing, Brasher Falls, 37 Riverside Drive, Canton, Sunrise Valley Apartments, DeKalb Junction, Senior Courts, Edwards, the Morristown Fire Hall, Centennial Terrace, Ogdensburg, Midtown Apartments, Potsdam, and the Star Lake Community Center. Meals are delivered to frail and homebound seniors.

"But we encourage folks to get to the sites if they can for the socialization aspect," she said.

The work program, dubbed the Senior Community Service Employment Program, links people 55 and older with government and community service jobs. The funding allows the office to add one more slot to its 28-worker program, Mrs. McBurnie said.

"We do an inventory of skills and find out what they're interested in, and we try to place them at an agency where their skills fit," she said.

Mrs. McBurnie said the program is currently at capacity, but interested seniors should apply even if there are no slots available. The program's workers often find other jobs, she said.

Program information can be found online at www.co.st-lawrence.ny.us, by calling Mrs. McBurnie at 386-4730 or e-mailing bmcburnie@co.st-lawrence.ny.us.