By Kate Bouey

"No senior will go without food"

Schubert Centre to close over COVID-19

Mar 17, 2020 | 12:59 PM

Vernon’s busy Schubert Centre is closing its doors starting Wednesday until further notice due to the coronavirus.

But programs will continue to ensure senior citizens have meals and food, manager Shirley Higgins stressed.

The popular seniors’ centre has been described online as “a lifeline” for older folks.

Higgins said the centre was taking all steps to ensure members and staff were protected from the virus.

“We are at the higher end of the scale for risk, the people who frequent our centre,” Higgins told Vernon Matters.

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However she said staff would continue to work and prepare food for its Meals on Wheels program.

She said people who used the centre’s cafe for lunch could sign up for the program as could other seniors who would like meal delivery.

“We have let everyone who lunches here know they can sign up for the Meals on Wheels program. I want to make sure no one is without food,” she said.

Higgins said there was also another Schubert Centre-Safeway program that would allow the delivery of groceries to people will mobility issues or seniors unable to get out to the shops to buy food supplies.

Anyone interested in either program can call the Schubert Centre at 250-549-4201 between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

Higgins admitted the closure was a blow as the centre “has been working diligently” to get back into the black.

A March 27 fundraiser centred on guest speaker Randy Kolibaba has been postponed until May 22.

by Kate Bouey

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