Mission seniors receive $10,000 donation

ST. IGNATIUS — The Mission Senior Citizen Center will be a lot spiffier this time next year. The group was recently granted a check for $10,000 to replace their worn kitchen floor.
The money is a gift from the Mission Valley Old Town Development Corporation, a local CDC. Stuart Morton, president of the group, said the Senior Center’s Peggy Johnson “cornered me and asked for letters of support.” The seniors were trying to gather enough letters to help them win a grant to upgrade the building.
Instead, Morton offered to look into the giving arm of his own organization, and after presenting the request to the Old Town Development Corporation board, the organization granted the center the money it needed.
“The people from the Senior Citizens Center have earned this along the way,” Morton said at the seniors’ monthly dinner.
“All this is, is one arm of the town giving to another arm of the town,” Morton said of the Development Corporation’s donation.
The money will go to good use, said Mack McConnell, one of the seniors. The group has already reinsulated the building, but needs to do additional upgrading to make it more energy efficient, McConnell said, such as adding new windows and doing electrical work.
Morton said the donation is no big deal. “There are no big shots in this town,” he said, handing over the check.