BUCKHANNON – The Upshur County Senior Center is excited to announce a new donor initiative that will benefit both elderly adults in the county as well as individuals and businesses that make financial donations to support the senior center’s vital services.
Made possible through a recently awarded Investment Neighborhood Program grant, if an individual donor or corporate entity/business donates a minimum of $500 or larger, they will receive half of the donated amount as a tax credit on their corporate or personal income taxes.
The Upshur County Senior Center’s mission is to serve the community by enriching the quality of life for older adults through services and activities to help them remain independent and active. The Senior Center does this through in-home care services, the Meals on Wheels program, congregate meals, planned activities, classes and more, according to Tracie Thompson, executive director of the Upshur County Senior Center.
“It’s our goal at the Upshur County Senior Center to be able to reach out to every senior in Upshur County in need of food, healthcare, nutritional information, exercise, transportation, computer technology classes or socialization, giving our seniors the most support and information we can by partnering with local agencies in our county,” Thompson said.
Over the past year, the senior center has undergone several significant cutbacks following the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the founding of a new individual and corporate donor program.
This donor program is made possible by an Investment Neighborhood Program grant recently awarded to the Upshur Senior Center. This grant will assist in fundraising efforts for the senior center’s nutrition program, which includes their Meals on Wheels clients and congregate meals at the center.
The nutrition program is one of the programs that was hit hard by the cutbacks after the pandemic, and this recent grant is intended to provide a wonderful incentive to both individual and corporate/business donors.
If an individual donor or corporate/business donates a minimum of $500 or larger, they will receive half of the donated amount as a tax credit on their taxes.
“With year-end giving happening now, this is a good time for individuals or businesses to donate in order to include their tax credit on their 2023 taxes,” Thompson said. “In the individual donor program, there are three levels of giving that provide benefits and incentives to the donor for helping our Upshur County seniors.”
The corporate/business donor program also has three levels of giving, providing corporate donors with the opportunity to become a member of the new Corporate Council of the Upshur County Senior Center and other benefits and incentives, she added.
Thompson emphasized that elderly adults comprise a significant portion of Upshur County’s population.
“The county’s population is about 23,791 people, and out of that, there are about 5,000 seniors in this area,” she said. “Right now, we’re only currently able to serve 15 percent of the seniors even with everything we’ve done in the last year. We need your help to grow and reach out to more seniors. We would like to expand our Meals on Wheels to include Rock Cave, Ellamore and French Creek areas, and we would love to be able to expand our kitchen.”
If you would like to make a donation – either individual or corporate/business – please mail it to the following address: Upshur County Senior Center, 28 North Kanawha Street, Buckhannon, WV 26201.
Need more information? Please contact Thompson by calling 304-472-0528 or emailing tthompson@upwvsc.org.
