On a Friday in early June, the parking lot of Pasadena Senior Center (PSC) is bustling with seniors, some arriving for their monthly food pick-up and some leaving with food-laden carts. A recent Senior Grant from Pasadena Community Foundation helps support this important monthly food distribution event at PSC.
PSC Social Services Manager Carmen Macias oversees the event, which takes place the first Friday of each month and supports upwards of 200 families each time. The LA Food Bank provides boxes of shelf-stable food items, and this month, the seniors also got to take home cheese and one frozen chicken each. While the seniors are quiet, efficient, and focused, the full force of volunteers from numerous local organizations creates energy, enthusiasm, and camaraderie. They are stationed at various checkpoints, all smiling, lifting boxes, bending low to chat intimately with elderly clientele — everyone with a specific role.
PCF has provided more than $500,000 in grants to the senior center since its first grant in 1973, and this year, PSC is once again a recipient of PCF’s annual Senior Grant program. The $10,000 grant will support the PSC’s Social Services program, which serves more than 5,000 unduplicated individuals per year – the majority of whom live below the federal poverty line – and includes the monthly food distribution event.
