Senior citizen lunch day dispells stereotypes, opens minds
By Crystal Abrell
STAFF WRITER
The University of Indianapolis hosted “Take a Senior Citizen to Lunch Day” Wednesday, March 26, in the Schwitzer Student Center Trustees Dining Room.
Students and professors on the Social Work Committee decided to host an event at UIndy to provide a more positive outlook towards the elderly community. This group consisted of social work students, including juniors Ashley Fallos, Sara Taylor and Kari Johnson, along with the Director of the Social Work Program Jeffery Bryant and Director of Polk Food Service, Ted Polk.
Six different agencies that work to offer senior citizens better opportunities collaborated to help shape the event. The agencies involved were Baxter YMCA, Martin Luther King Center, Concord Community Center, John Boner, Southeast Community Center and The Altenheim.
Fallos and Polk wrote a letter for a grant to pay for the cost of the lunch. They received a Mini Grant Award of $600 from the ICC Community Service.
“Take a Senior Citizen to Lunch Day” provided lunch with a student, informational agency booths and free blood pressure screening to about 80 senior citizens.
Entertainment was provided by Express, a barbershop quartet and the Time Steppers Senior Citizen Dance Group from Oasis.
According to Fallos, there was a wide variety of student interaction.
“The event was open to the whole campus and we [were] excited for all the students and faculty that decided to help out,” Fallos said.
According to Taylor, the lunch was intended to diminish the negative stereotypes students and senior citizens may have about one another.
“We were hoping to educate people about the senior citizen community, while adding a positive outlook on getting older,” Taylor said. “Basically we felt it was a perfect opportunity to intermingle generations that would not usually have the opportunity to associate.”
All the Indianapolis agencies involved offer many types of activities for the senior citizen community. John Boner, a senior citizens agency, provides daily outings and transportation to the seniors involved in their program.
According to Bryant, it is a pleasing experience to see older individuals out of their homes and involved.
“A lot of neat opportunities are provided to the older generation,” Bryant said. “People think as you get older you can’t do anything, [but] there is an abundance of opportunities.”
