July 7, 2008 (Return to News)

Focus on Seniors: Brevard Community Kitchen needs help

[BREVARD COUNTY, FL] - The heart of every home is the kitchen, and at Community Services Council, it is no different. The Brevard Community Kitchen is the heart of our nutrition program and has been for the past 16 years.

Dedicated staff and volunteers prepare more than 2,000 hot meals daily. That is nearly 500,000 meals each year.

After 16 years of wear and tear, our kitchen is in need of an extreme makeover. Repairs, renovation and equipment replacement are vital to keep the kitchen going. Our cooking equipment, purchased used in 1991, is ready for replacement.

Two 40-gallon steam kettles are nearing 34 years old. Years of steam cooking have taken their toll on walls and ceilings. Our vans and step truck have high mileage and are in need of replacement. The walk-in freezer is on the fritz. The roof needs replacement and our air conditioner will not make it though another summer.
The program that relies on our kitchen the most is Meals on Wheels.

Through this service, we provide 800 homebound seniors with nutritious meals served by trained volunteers who also offer friendly visits and safety checks. If not for the meals from our kitchen, many homebound elders would not receive one hot nutritious meal a day.

Many seniors who are not homebound, but seek socialization and a hot meal, attend one of our 14 neighborhood Seniors At Lunch sites. More than 600 seniors take advantage of this program over the course of any given week.

Other programs rely heavily on our kitchen. Among these are the Head Start program, adult day care centers, charter schools, summer lunch programs and various low-income child day care centers.

Even in times of disaster, our kitchen continues to serve. During the wildfires of 1998, the kitchen prepared more than 3,000 breakfasts, lunches and dinners for firefighters battling the blazes for more than 10 days.
During the summer of three hurricanes (2004), the kitchen prepared meals for first responders, Red Cross shelters and workers at the Emergency Operations Center. The kitchen has a 25-kilowatt natural gas generator to keep meals in full production after the loss of electrical power.

Our kitchen is in need. We are reaching out, for the first time, to the Brevard community for help to continue our long-established quality of service.

The Brevard Community Kitchen is an integral part of Brevard County. Your help with our renovations, purchasing of equipment and vehicles will give us the support that allows us to meet our goal of a kitchen that is in working order so we can continue to do what we do best: provide meals for the frailest of Brevard's citizens, its elders and at risk- children.

The Brevard Community Kitchen is in the first months of a two-year capital campaign. Construction already has started in preparation for summer storms. If you are interested in helping support our capital campaign, go to the Community Services Council Web site at www.communityservicescouncil.org or phone us at 639-1236.

Flachmeier is president and CEO of Community Services Council of Brevard.