March 31, 2000

The MGH is a place where people come to get well and stay well. In this spirit, the MGH Senior Supper Club will provide senior citizens with an inviting and stimulating place to dine at the Eat Street Café.

The Senior Supper Club, which begins April 3, will offer adults over 60 a 10 percent discount on meals between 4 and 6 pm every day. Seniors must sign up for the club in the Eat Street Café and will be given an identification card. There is no cost for registration.

"We are pleased to have this golden opportunity to reach out to the older community," says Susan Barraclough, manager of Retail Food Services and Production at the MGH. "We hope that the club will foster a social environment in which participants can get to know each other and get an affordable meal."

According to Barbara Moscowitz, MSW, LICSW, geriatrics social worker for MGH Senior Health, many of these seniors live alone and cannot manage daily food preparation. "They feel lonely and disconnected," she says. "This is a big city, and the MGH wants to open its doors to help. The Senior Supper Club not only will be providing healthy meals at a lower cost, we will be providing companionship, which is just as important for good health."

The program specifically will target MGH's neighbors, with special outreach to senior residence homes Amy Lowell House, Beacon House and Blackstone. Shuttles will be available to take residents to and from the MGH. MGH employees will be visiting these homes to register residents for the program before it begins.

"This program will take existing resources and expand them to the community," says Barraclough. "It also will expose participating seniors to the other wonderful things that the MGH has to offer, such as the chapel, Images beauty salon, the MGH General Store and Flower Shop and programs specifically geared toward seniors." There also will be occasional live musical entertainment and programs about nutrition, fitness and other topics of interest to seniors.

Anybody who is over 60 is eligible for this program, including MGH employees. For more information, call Barraclough at 4-4027 or Moscowitz at 6-4600 ext. 7802.