Kemmerer Senior Center receives $4,000 of unexpected holiday cheer

KEMMERER, Wyo. — The Kemmerer Senior Citizen Center is celebrating its version of a “Christmas miracle” after receiving two major funding contributions following a big setback early this month.

Earlier this month, the senior center’s walk-in refrigerator stopped working resulting in the loss of more than $1,200 worth of food. Without ready funds available to make a needed repair, administrators were looking for any help they could find. 

Around the same time, Wyoming Game & Fish presented Naughton Plant with the 2021 Access Recognition Award, along with a $2,000 check, for its public access program and work surrounding Viva Naughton Reservoir and the Hams Fork River.

“When we learned of the award and that it would include a check to the plant/company, we had decided that this would be a great opportunity to help out a local charitable organization and keep the donated money in the community,” explained Rodger Holt, managing director at the Naughton facility. “The Kemmerer Senior Citizen Center provides an essential service to the community and we wanted to support that work.

That largess came right in the nick of time, as the senior center would suffer the refrigerator failure a few weeks later. The Rocky Mountain Power Foundation was able to match the award, allowing for a total of $4,000 for the senior center.

“It helps with us be able to keep serving the senior population,” said Kemmerer Senior Citizen Center director Marchane Hunt. “We serve 300 people in-house and we serve up to 500 deliveries - so that's 800, total.”

“It's wonderful,” she added “Everybody's so generous and willing to help us. Sometimes people these days seem have lost that generosity or kindness, so it's nice to know it's still around.”