For several charitable organizations, the holiday season - like the rest of the year - is a time to help those dealing with some of life's toughest problems and providing solutions to those problems. In the week leading up to Christmas, the News Tribune is showcasing people whose lives have been impacted by United Way of Central Missouri partner agencies and supporters in the annual "A Christmas Wish" series.
Bob Hull's time spent each day at the West Point Senior Center is about more than an affordable and good meal.
"I'm a people person," and "it's the fellowship" that Hull, 86, said he enjoys. There's also tai chi.
Hull has been going to the center most every day for the past 16 years - starting at Capital Mall when there was a senior nutrition site there.
After he moved to the Heisinger Bluffs assisted living facility, Hull said, he was invited to keep coming back to the Senior Nutrition Center.
There's been a pretty consistent crowd over the years, he said.
That is good for opportunities to get acquainted with people, but it might also reflect a misconception that could deter newcomers - that the senior nutrition centers in Jefferson City are only for people on low incomes.
Center Administrator Nathan Baysinger said there are no income guidelines or restrictions - only a suggested donation of $4 for each meal. But even then, it's really just whatever someone feels they can give, and no one is turned away because of inability to donate.
There are two senior nutrition centers in Jefferson City run by the Cole County Senior Nutrition Council and supported by the United Way of Central Missouri. In addition to West Point at 2701 W. Main St., Suite 101, there is the Clarke Senior Center at 1310 Linden Drive.
Both centers are open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday to anyone at least 60 years old and their spouses. Hot lunch is served every day from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Hull said he has cereal for breakfast on his own each day, and dinner is provided at Heisinger Bluffs. The lunch menu at West Point on Dec. 9 was pork chops, sweet potato, fruit cocktail, sloppy Joes, three bean salad and pineapple upside down cake - though there looked to be some kind of cobbler, too.
Whole wheat bread, milk and margarine are served with each meal.
The center will be closed Christmas Day, but its Christmas meal was scheduled Dec. 17, with pork roast and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli and cauliflower casserole, fruit, roast beef, green beans and hot rolls on the menu.
"They get a good meal for only $4," Hull said of one reason other seniors should consider going to the center.
In addition to the good company, there's also a chance to stay active - the tai chi exercises.
Hull sticks around after lunch for tai chi each Monday and Friday afternoon.
He started doing the exercises 15 years ago. He said did not have to sit down as much then to do tai chi, but, he said: "I need to be moving my body and not be a sitter," and the activity lets him do that.
Soothing meditation music plays as Hull lifts, spreads and rotates his arms, taking deep breaths, among a group of about a dozen people exercising together.
Other opportunities listed on the center's activities calendar include bridge, mahjong, bingo, sing-alongs, movies and more.
West Point Senior Center opened in March 2018, after the Capital Mall center location closed in spring 2017.
The United Way of Central Missouri helped make the West Point center possible with a community support grant of $7,500.
More than 30,000 meals are served each year to seniors in Cole and Osage counties, Baysinger said. Osage County does not have a senior center, only delivered meals for homebound residents through the Meals 4 U service.
Hull said he gets time with his children at the holidays; he and his late wife, Deloras, adopted their son in 1966 and their daughter in 1967, when the family lived in Des Moines, Iowa.
Hull was born and raised in northeastern Iowa. After working in supply while serving stateside in the U.S. Army from 1951-53, he began a government career, first processing paperwork with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, then taking a similar job in Des Moines with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
His work with the USDA in administration led him around the country - Virginia, back to Iowa, Texas, Ohio, then Jefferson City, when there was a USDA office in town.
He has five grandchildren.
Among his friends at West Point, "I have the privilege of ringing the dinner bell every day" - the gold bell at his table, not the pink one with "Ring for a Kiss" painted on the side.
Hull's Christmas wish: "Just to keep on being healthy and moving, being able to come here, and being able to be with family at Christmas time."
The West Point Senior Center enter can be reached at 573-635-4120, and the Clarke Senior Center at 573-634-8020. Emails can be sent to [email protected].