The senior brunch crew celebrated the holiday season with a special brunch and holiday tunes brought once again by New Life Community Church and Central Valley Community Resources (CVCR) recently at the Community Center in Riverbank. The Christmas Party may have had low attendance this year but the spirits of the guests that were there were high. The seniors received a hot meal, dessert, and a few gifts. There were about 17 people in attendance this year.
“The Christmas Party was fun,” said CVCR CEO and Riverbank City Councilmember Darlene Barber-Martinez. “The highlights were singing Christmas songs with New Life Community Church. Everyone was given a raffle ticket for door prizes. Everyone received a gift and packed food to take home.”
The guests were served up some tasty treats at the Christmas party including cranberry pepper jam with cream cheese and crackers, donuts, apple pie, coffee, hot coca, apple cider, and tea. The brunch menu was ham, a Puerto Rican rice dish, mixed vegetables, yams, rolls/butter, punch, and dessert which was pound cake with peaches and whipped topping.
New Life Community Church Pastors Paul and Trudy Jewell along with other church members spread holiday cheer singing a number of Christmas favorites with the guests at the brunch. The collaboration between the church and CVCR’s senior brunch has been ongoing for several years.
“I appreciate New Life Community Church for taking the time out of their day to come and spend it with us,” stated Barber-Martinez. “They have been coming for several years. The Christmas Party was the last gathering we have until the first Friday in January 2022.”
Senior Brunch Fridays made a return in September thanks to the efforts of CVCR as they had been canceled due to COVID-19 for several months. The brunch is held every Friday at no cost to the senior citizens in the community from 10 a.m. to noon with the exception of some holiday weekends. Anyone can participate and according to Barber-Martinez no one will be turned away.
“We usually play Bingo or have a guest speaker,” added Barber-Martinez. “For instance, our Police Chief gave a presentation a few weeks ago regarding how to be safe in your home, online, text messages, and paying attention to your surroundings while out shopping for the holidays.”
CVCR makes all the meals for the brunch and raises funds at different events to be able to continue offering free meals to seniors. They have been serving brunch for seniors since 2014.
