EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Merrimack Valley

Who can say no to granny? North Andover elders hitting the pavement to raise money for senior center

By Courtney Paquette
Staff Writer
Published: March 16, 2008

NORTH ANDOVER — You might want to consider sending grandma a birthday card with a check inside for a change.

Every little bit will help seniors here as they embark on quite an ambitious venture starting tomorrow on St. Patrick's Day. They will spend the next few months of their golden years trying to raise a lot of green, $80,000 to be exact, to pay for renovations to their senior center.

"For many people, this is their second home," said Bill Callahan, who's at the senior center nearly every day. He said it's important "to take care of the seniors in town."

They're planning to raise the money with some good old-fashioned shoe leather and hard work.

Starting tomorrow, they'll visit businesses in town, send letters to some major companies and businesses in the Merrimack Valley and spend time talking with folks in the community about why they should help.

That, and they have a large water jug in the lobby of the senior center in which to collect change.

"It's a real challenge," said George White, president of the Friends of the North Andover Senior Center Inc. the nonprofit spearheading the drive. "We're hopeful. We're positive. We're energetic. We'll do our best to get out to as many people to encourage their support."

There are about 5,000 people over the age of 62 — nearly a fifth of the population — who live in North Andover. Hundreds of them visit the senior center every day for programs, lunch and company, Callahan said.

At Town Meeting last spring, voters approved $250,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund for redesigning the center so that it better accommodates the needs of seniors, and to make room for all of the programs offered there.

But the Friends of the Senior Center figured out a couple of weeks ago that the total cost of completing the renovations would be higher than they expected — more than $300,000.

As it stands now, seniors who want to visit the outreach director have to climb a set of stairs to the second floor. And to get there, they have to walk through rooms in which programs are in progress, interrupting exercise classes and social groups.

There's also only a small space for the medical clinic, where dozens of seniors come every day to get basic medical care, and little space in the lobby for people to sit and wait for rides home.

They want to expand the medical clinic and knock down some walls to provide better flow, as well as access to spaces that currently aren't being used. They'll also redesign the lobby and put in a set of doors they think will be more energy efficient.

"We're using the existing footprint and maximizing the utilization of the existing space," White said.

If the Friends of the Senior Center don't raise the additional $80,000, they don't know if they'll even be able to start the renovations, because so many of them tie in with one another. White said they'll have to prioritize what renovations to do, and come up with a new plan.

"If the campaign is not successful, we're going to have to make some hard decisions," White said.

They know it's a big goal, but they think it can be done.

"You have to be optimistic," senior center Program Director Barbara Champigny said.

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