He was new to this country, unable to leave his apartment, alone, and hungry. When a 68-year-old man was desperate for help, the Pasadena Senior Center answered his call.
Social Services manager Carmen Macias remembers him saying, “I haven’t eaten, I’m hungry.” She put together a couple of bags of food, toilet paper, a hygiene kit and brought it to him. She discovered he had been living with his nephew who had gone back to their home country, Ethiopia, leaving his older uncle alone. Since then Carmen has brought the disabled man food several times, making sure he has things he can use, including canned goods, eggs, and bread.
When the pandemic hit, the Center started answering calls to get food to seniors in need. Now Carmen says, “I get calls just about every day. People need food and I will fix up maybe three or four bags of different food. Maybe cereal, milk, a lot of soups, something they can eat without having to cook.” On top of that, for Thanksgiving, Center staff and volunteers assembled 250 turkey dinners that volunteers delivered to seniors.
The Center depends on donations to stock its food pantry. One of the Center’s Board members is a big donor of supplies. The San Marino Ladies Auxiliary also stages a food drive to collect donations. Carmen says the Center never lets anyone go hungry so she welcomes food donations seniors can use.
