News

“Do more with less.”

That’s an often-used catchphrase which many businesses, organizations and non-profit efforts have heard quite a bit over the past few years, to include the Fayette Senior Center.

The Senior Center, a hub of activity be it meals, activities and educational seminars for seniors or public transportation for all county residents, is a vital operation within the county – as many others are – but one which, just like other efforts, finds itself running on a shoestring budget.

So such things as the Fayette County Foundation’s Fayette Senior Center endowment, which earlier this year provided a $343.90 grant to the Senior Center, are quite valuable, to say the least. 

Created in 2005 at the FCF, the Fayette Senior Center Endowment, according to Executive Director Anna Dungan, helps “further the mission of the organization.”

Dave Lingg, director of the Fayette Senior Center, agrees wholeheartedly.

Lingg spoke on the impact the endowment makes on the Senior Center Tuesday, while many seniors eagerly awaited the lunch meal a the center.

The endowment funds, per Lingg, go into the Senior Center’s general fund, and in turn are used for a variety of needs be it electrical or water bills, the center’s programming efforts or transportation.

“We’re glad we get the money every year,” Lingg said. “What it does, we put it in our general fund and use it for other purposes. We have a light bill here, a water bill here. It takes a lot of money every month to sustain this place.

Indeed, such generosity is huge for an organization which, for the most part, relies on federal and state funds for its transportation service, along with county funds, to help keep its services ongoing. And, as many are aware, the amounts of those funds from the federal, state and local level have diminished over the years.

“It was created for a good purpose,” Lingg said. “We do benefit from that. In the past, we’ve even contributed excess money to that (endowment), and in a roundabout way, we get it back.

“They do a great job for us,” he continued, speaking of the FCF. “Anna and her program, in the past years, they’ve also given us a grant (for radios for transportation department). That’s something that really helps us. It helped us buy those, and we really appreciated that. They’ve been really, really good to us, and we’re really appreciative of what they’ve done.

“We appreciate the Foundation and what they’re doing for the community,” Lingg concluded.