Emporia Senior Center President and CEO Ian Boyd says the facility’s financial situation has stabilized since this past fall, when the center board had to take drastic steps to preserve its future. Now it’s time to “get more people into the building.”
Boyd’s comments came during the Senior Center’s latest fundraiser, the first-ever Love & Kindness event designed to replace the facility’s walk-in cooler. The estimated cost is around $3,200, and Friday’s event brought in over $1,300 towards that goal.
The Senior Center Board of Directors suspended activities Nov. 1 and laid off all its staff, including Boyd, effective Nov. 2 with the center struggling financially for several years due to low attendance, COVID-19-related closures, equipment failures and related costs, inflation and the embezzlement of over $100,000 from prior director Lannie Lyman. Boyd briefly served the center as a volunteer before better than $50,000 on anonymous donations were processed last fall. Activities have been returning to the schedule for several weeks, but Boyd says there are still people who think the building is closed. Boyd also says there is more money in hand now than when he started in 2018, but the Senior Center board is looking to rearrange when funds come in — from the end of the year to the middle — and it’s also looking to work with external marketer and grant writer to help current fundraising efforts.
The center’s next fundraising luncheon is this upcoming Friday, and the board is still raising money to replace the roof after a hailstorm two years ago. Residents interested in donating can call the Senior Center at 620-343-3160.
