The Pennsylvania Department of Aging last week announced a nutrition services grant to help members of the Nationalities Service Center Senior Center tend their community garden in North Philadelphia. The center, which opened in 1986, older immigrants and refugees from Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Laos, Iraq and other countries, as well as people born in the United States and the food grown there is used in preparing meals for center members. The funding for the project came through a competitive bid process through a $3.7 million allotment made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and distributed by the Department of Aging.
"This innovative project is helping to provide fresh and nutritious food for center members and creates camaraderie by providing an area for older adults to tend to their gardens together," said Deputy Secretary of Aging Ray Prushnok.
