CHEER breaks ground on new kitchen facility
If all goes as planned, Sussex County CHEER will have a new, state-of-the-art kitchen with new equipment up and running by the end of spring.
Guests, board members, staff and elected officials gathered Oct. 27 to officially break ground for the new $1.6 million project to be constructed on the west side of the Warren and Charles Allen CHEER Community Center at the intersection of Route 9 and Sand Hill Road just east of Georgetown.
The new 6,400-square-foot Florence Mason CHEER Central Kitchen will replace the central food preparation kitchen currently housed at the Adams State Service Center off Route 113. CHEER staff at that kitchen are preparing more than 1,700 meals daily, which is twice the amount it is designed for, said CHEER CEO Ken Bock. Opened in the 1980s, staff is using most of the original kitchen equipment.
To meet the growing senior population, it's anticipated the number of daily prepared meals will increase to 2,600 in the near future. More than 309,000 meals were prepared last year.
Bock had a lot of people to thank as he announced the three-year capital campaign had raised $1.6 million. Of that total, $407,000 will be used to purchase new equipment.
The CHEER food program provides meals to CHEER activity sites in Georgetown, Greenwood, Lewes, Long Neck, Milton, Ocean View and Roxana with meals provided to the Bridgeville and Laurel senior centers.
In addition, Meals on Wheels are delivered to homebound seniors throughout the county except in the Lewes and Rehoboth Beach area where a separate organization provides the service.
The namesake of the new facility, Florence Mason, retired on Christmas Day 2019, after serving as CHEER nutrition director for 25 years. She was in charge of a staff of 70 people including center directors, kitchen managers, helpers, cooks, outreach workers and food van drivers. She began Operation Christmas CHEER, which provides meals and gifts to lonely seniors on Christmas. Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have volunteered to help with the event. She is now living in Baltimore with a daughter.
