In 2017, the AFF approved a grant to the Red Hook Public Library for senior programming. We were excited by all the Library had been doing for seniors in the community, as well as the variety of programming they were hoping to offer moving forward. In the grant application, Director Dawn Jardine noted that at the start of a recent program, “a patron stood up. . . to express his gratitude to library staff. He said, ‘Thank you for noticing we’re alive.’ He appreciated not only the content of our program, but even more the fact that we reached out to them at all.”
In the past, the Library has held events for seniors like concerts by area singer-songwriters, movie nights, and arts & crafts nights. Noting the food insecurity of some local seniors, the Library always offers healthy, interesting food at every program. The AFF’s 2017 grant provided close to $2,000 in funds for off-site movie screenings, performer and guest speaker fees, and refreshments for eight events.
All were enthralled by the local history presentation!
The picture featured here is from the last event for seniors funded by the 2017 grant. The event was a local history lunch with Claudine and Chris Klose, and it was packed! Seniors from all over the area, including from the Commons, made the trip over to learn more about their town.
The Foundation was excited to be able to fund this sort of programming- our mission goals are threefold (alleviating poverty, promoting education, and aiding the elderly), but we find that a majority of our grants support the first two. We are always looking for grants that will support programming for seniors, so if you’re working with such groups locally (or as an ambassador elsewhere), we’d love to be in touch!