The kitchen is still open at Century House.
While the local seniors centre isn’t offering its regular programming because of COVID-19, Century House is supporting seniors aged 50 and up through the pandemic by keeping its kitchen open for take-out service Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Along with baked goods such as cinnamon buns and scones, samosas and spanakopita, coffee and soft drinks are available for takeout from Connections Cafe.
Each day, a featured entrée is available by pre-order, with recent meals including Salisbury steak, chicken cacciatore, steak and mushroom pot pie, chicken stuffed with brie cheese, baked salmon, chicken cordon bleu, beef pot pie and herb-crusted cod. Most meals are $6.50.
Each week’s menu is posted on the Century House Association website at www.centuryhouseassociation.com. You can pre-order your meal by calling 604-519-1066 so it’s ready for pickup when you arrive.
The City of New Westminster has also been working with the Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar on a meal program for seniors, persons with disabilities and vulnerable populations. The Queensborough temple is providing a free dinner service pick-up on Tuesdays and on Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Century House’s parking lot.
John Stark, the city’s supervisor of community planning, said the temple is providing about 25 meals a week but can be accommodate more people and may be able to expand to additional days.
“There is an interest by the temple to scale up the program,” he said. “We are just trying to ascertain needs, and also whether that can be implemented in other neighbourhoods too. Right now we are just trying to monitor needs, scale it up as needed.”
Leona Green, co-owner of Greens and Beans Deli in Sapperton, has been making soup daily and having it delivered to local seniors. She’s currently providing 102 bowls of soup daily to local seniors and New Westminster firefighters are now delivering the soup.
“It’s a good check-in. They are able to check in with a lot of the seniors and give them comfort for a couple of minutes, where they can yell though the door or have a social-distance conversation,” said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr. “It’s been really positive.”
The City of New Westminster has also commissioned Green to make bagged lunches, which are being distributed to folks in need.
As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city has created a number of working groups to respond to various community needs. The at-risk and vulnerable populations working group has been working with a wide variety of groups, including the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, the New Westminster Farmers Market and faith and nonprofit organizations regarding the provision of food and food-security plans for folks in various neighbourhoods.
