Lack of volunteers hampers dine-in service

By MINDY KEPFIELD

Staff writer

Hillsboro Senior Center will not offer dine-in meals until September because it is in dire need of volunteers.

Four of its volunteers are ill with health issues not related to COVID-19, manager Brenda Moss said.

For now, any help would be appreciated, Moss said.

The senior center closed dine-in service the first week of August when Moss tested positive and was hospitalized with COVID-19 at Ascention Via Christi, St Francis, Wichita.

No other employees at the center needed to be tested or came down with the virus because staff wore masks and kept their distance, Moss said.

County health administrator Diedre Serene said the cases were not announced because they did not qualify as a cluster, which requires two or more lab-confirmed positive cases.

Volunteers can wear a hat or a hairnet. Mask and hand sanitizer will be available.

“We usually need two that are free Monday through Friday,” she said.

The center delivers 25 to 30 meals and provides about 30 pick ups each weekday.

Meal delivery is done without any direct contact, she said.