Highland Senior Center

    When the Highland Senior Center first began over 30 years ago, it was just a few friends meeting to drink some coffee, exchange some vegetables and fruit, and to chat.  Today, it is still that.  Except now we have over 3,600 members who get together.  They still drink coffee, exchange food, and talk, but they do so much more.
    The center now has over 50 various activities and classes to choose from, ranging from Heath (aerobics, both in the water and in the gym), to Education (brain fitness, science, and computers), Social Gatherings and Special Events (Thanksgiving Dinner, Hoedown), to Informative Lectures (health screening, diabetes support).
    A unique function of the center is the Outreach Program, which is divided up into the Transportation Assistance Program, providing rides for seniors to medical appointments and grocery shopping, the Friendly Visitor Program, which provides homebound seniors with companionship, and the Phone Pal program, which has seniors calling homebound seniors to keep in touch.
    What makes this amazing if the fact that the center is a non-profit organization, with a budget that is in the black.  The source of their funding overwhelmingly comes from it’s members and the community.  The center is constantly having fundraisers, supported by businesses who act as sponsors and provide raffle prizes, to members who donate supplies and money for their annual sustaining campaign.
    Whereas employees usually demand a big portion of a companies budget, the center has only two full-time and three part-time employees.  A majority of the work is done by volunteers themselves, who donate tens of thousands of hours every year.
    The Highland Senior Center is a unique place in a time where the senior population continues to grow.  We need a few more places like this.