To supplement meal funding reduction, Dartmouth Health donates $20,000 to Bugbee Senior Center
Dartmouth Health recently donated $20,000 to the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction, VT, a program of the White River Council on Aging, to help pay for meals for senior citizens in Hartford, Norwich, Thetford and North Hartland, VT. The donation is in response to a 25 percent cut this fall at Bugbee Senior Center from its meal funding.
"This contribution to Bugbee Senior Center is just one piece of our ongoing commitment at Dartmouth Health to improving health and equity in our community here in the Upper Valley," said Barbara G. Farnsworth, director of community health partnerships at Dartmouth Health. "The senior populations in Vermont and New Hampshire are growing rapidly, and many older adults struggle with access to food. Our donation to Bugbee is truly an investment in the health of our community and we are proud to support the important work they do."
A nonprofit senior center, Bugbee offers lunches, Meals on Wheels, activities, classes, social events, wellness services, social services, and more, all geared towards the needs of adults age 60 and over. The reduction in funding at Bugbee also coincided with skyrocketing costs nationwide on food.
"At a time when more and more vulnerable older adults need access to our nutrition program, this funding from Dartmouth Health to supplement our meal budget is deeply appreciated, especially considering how federal and state funding has not kept up with demand," said Mark Bradley, executive director at Bugbee Senior Center. "Dartmouth Health is and will continue to be a critical partner of the work we do at Bugbee in ensuring seniors in Hartford and nearby towns are getting the nutrition they need, staying connected with the community, and are able to age in place with dignity."
To learn more about Bugbee Senior Center and make a donation, visit the Bugbee Senior Center website.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.