After being closed for nearly a decade, the Branchville Community Center reopened yesterday to begin providing meals and hosting activities for seniors in the local area.

“People need to get motivated to get out and get involved,” said 71-year-old Barbara Barnwell, who was excited about the center’s reopening. Barnwell was a manager of the center for five years in the late 1980s and praised the old center for being a very good place which offered activities and trips for the elderly.

“It’s a great day in Orangeburg County, as (County Council Chairman Harry) Wimberly and his colleagues say, and it’s a real great day in Branchville,” said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter.

“We have the facility here and meals coming to serve you, so we need you, Branchville seniors, to use this facility. I ask you to make it your business to bring a friend or neighbor with you to eat a hot meal,” she said.

“We are delighted to see the Branchville site open again,” said Sheryl Jeffcoat, director of the Orangeburg County Council on Aging. She said 77 people have signed up to participate in the program.

Enjoying time spent with her spouse, Janice Folk, 82, said the center will help bring the community together.

“When people get to senior age, they just can’t do the things they used to do, like cooking, so this is really good for them,” said Luther Folk, 80.

“This is a program that hasn’t been funded by the state in quite some time. Out of $3.9 million that was requested, South Carolina was given $2.9 million. Out of that $2.9 million, Orangeburg County gets $77,000.” said Branchville Mayor Tim Cooner. He noted that the money was set aside for only one year.

“We spend about $600,000 in Orangeburg County each year providing congregate meals and Meals On Wheels. Orangeburg County steps up to the plate with $150,000 and a facility,” he said.

“Dine-in meals in Orangeburg County number roughly 200 meals per day at $5.25 per meal, which is about $1,050 per day or $275,000 per year, and we serve about 250 meals per day with the Meals On Wheels program at about $4.99 per meal, which translates to $1,250 per day and $325,000 per year. So, we are right up to that $600,000 per year amount,” Cooner said.

“This is really a worthy program. I like to see people congregate, move about and enjoy life,” Cooner said.

David Lucas of the S.C. Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging said “Mayor Tim Cooner has worked hard to reopen the community center building where seniors will be able to come for a congregate meal.”

“This is exciting to us from the state level to see where some of the dollars are going. Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter was part of a group of folks who had the leadership and vision to see what was needed around the state,” said Mike Easterday, director of the state Office on Aging.

“We need to thank those like Cobb-Hunter who actually fought for those dollars to make sure the services that are so needed in our communities are getting provided,” he said.

Cobb-Hunter said, as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, she will do everything in her power to make sure that the money gets put back in the budget for next year and future years.

Orangeburg County Council Chairman Harry Wimberly said, “The worst good thing that can happen is to have people waiting at the door. It has always been a priority of Orangeburg County Council to take care of its senior citizens and we will continue that effort.

“Let me assure you that if the numbers get there and you need some help, you just have to ask for it.”

Mary Beth Fields, Triple A Coordinator for Aging Services with the Lower Savannah Council of Governments said, “Orangeburg and Calhoun counties go above and beyond for their senior citizens.”

Beatrice Miller, 70, of Branchville, said that she often asked the mayor when the center could reopen. He continually told her he was working on it, which he definitely was, along with many others in the county and state who see a need to provide for the elderly.

“I am more than pleased to be here at the new center. Seniors need different activities, especially things like quilting and arts and crafts to keep our minds active,” Miller said.

Happy about the county and state’s commitment to provide for the aging, Miller said “I think this is just wonderful. Elderly people sitting around is no good – they need to get out and do something.”

During the 2006 legislative session, the South Carolina General Assembly took action to address waiting lists for senior services coordinated by the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging by allocating an additional $2.9 million in supplemental state funding to purchase services from local providers such as County Councils on Aging and other groups.

The money just became available in December, but service providers and planners have been busy for months making sure that systems for using the money where it’s needed the most and tracking the results would be in place so that new seniors could be added quickly as funds became available.

According to the 2000 Census, Bamberg County had 3,014 people age 60 or older, Calhoun had 2,804, and Orangeburg had 16,065.

The funds set aside for Bamberg County in the regional spending plan are $35,234 to meet the needs of 29 slated to begin receiving services. Officials estimate an additional $43,780 is needed to serve 32 seniors identified as still in need of services.

For Calhoun County, $36,110 has been allocated to meet the needs of 23, and an additional $24,810 needed for five more seniors in need of services.

In Orangeburg County, $78,487 has been allocated to serve 54 seniors, with an additional $181,980 needed to serve 116 more seniors.

The Palmetto State fared poorly in an annual U.S. Department of Agriculture survey of hunger in the U.S. released in November. The USDA study concluded that South Carolina had the highest rate of households with “very low food security” of all the 50 states at 6.3 percent.

The study did not track how many of those households included seniors, but based on recent assessments performed by the 10 regional Area Agencies on Aging, the need for home-delivered and group meals is great, particularly in rural areas of the state, according to the S.C. Lt. Governor’s Office.

“All of the home and community-based services that are provided under contract by our Councils on Aging and other local providers are important in terms of keeping seniors healthy and independent,” said Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, “but our research in this area shows a strong correlation between nutrition and reductions in hospital emergency room and nursing home admissions. That’s an important quality-of-life issue for our seniors and their families, but it’s also one that impacts taxpayers and our state budget.”

For more information, contact your local Council on Aging Agency: Bamberg County at 803-245-3021, Calhoun County at 803-874-1270 and Orangeburg County at 803-531-4663.

T&D Staff Writer Donna L. Holman can be reached by e-mail at dholman@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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