Oasis Senior Center volunteer Dick Bohm sorts through some of the nonperishable food items that skilled nursing facility Generations at Lincoln donated on July 6 to the center's food pantry.

Lincoln nursing facility donates food to pantry for senior citizens

[July 17, 2018]  The senior citizens of Logan County have a replenished food pantry to rely upon, after the staff of a skilled nursing center in Lincoln dropped off the supplies and cash they raised earlier this summer.

On July 6, Generations at Lincoln donated more than 300 cans and boxes of food, plus a small cash contribution, to the Oasis Senior Center, which offers food every week to its membership.

"It was exciting to see the truck pull up with all the food in the back," said Nancy Cunningham, executive director of the Oasis. "They were generous to offer that to us."

The Oasis (2810 Woodlawn Road) offers many of the traditional activities of a senior center, including games and activities and a computer lab, but prioritizes several other services as well. The group partners with agencies that offer legal aid, veterans' assistance, Medicare appointments, therapy for diabetics and more, and also keeps a pantry of non-perishable food for its members. Every week, Cunningham and her crew of volunteers assemble grocery bags full of dinner supplies for those who could use a little help. That supply comes entirely from donations, Cunningham said.

But, as with most pantries around the country, the Oasis runs close to dry during the summer months — right as grandchildren get out of school and need an extra meal.

"We are grateful for everything the community brings to us, but there's only so much you can do with crackers and Jell-O," Cunningham said. "You need cans of soup."

And new cans of soup — plus pasta, sauce, cornbread mix and more — arrived with the Generations at Lincoln staff.

Nancy Cunningham (right), executive director of the Oasis Senior Center, wheels another cart out to collect the goods rounded up by the staff of skilled nursing facility Generations at Lincoln.

Miranda Witt, the new administrator of Generations at Lincoln (2202 Kickapoo St.), met with Cunningham recently to tour the Oasis and see how the two groups could work together. Together, the pair decided that the staff of Generations at Lincoln would hold a food drive for the Oasis.

"We're looking for ways to help the senior community," said Julie Williamson, the director of admissions. "Giving back to the community is one of our main goals."

And because the staff exceeded its goal of 300 food items, Williamson and Witt said they now have to organize a celebratory party...the nature of which is yet to be determined. At the Oasis, though, the volunteers sounded chipper as they stacked the new supply of food.

"You can hear it in their voice, that they're really excited," Cunningham said. "Like 'Look at what we got!'"

[Ronnie Watcher, Generations]