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Friends of Templeton Elders to dissolve, donate $63,289 to senior center with kitchen stipulations; board accepts additional anonymous $1,000 gift
Summary
The select board accepted two donations to the Templeton Senior Center: an anonymous $1,000 gift and a $63,289.12 donation from the Friends of Templeton Elders earmarked for the senior-center kitchen, with $14,000 specifically restricted to equipment.
The Town of Templeton Select Board on Jan. 8 accepted two gifts intended to advance the long-planned kitchen at the Templeton Senior Center.
The board voted unanimously to accept an anonymous $1,000 donation for the senior center. Later in the meeting the board also accepted a $63,289.12 gift from Friends of the Templeton Elders (FOTE), a nonprofit that announced it will dissolve and transfer its remaining funds.
Why it matters: Town officials have been pursuing a functioning on-site kitchen and other building upgrades at the senior center for years. The FOTE donation largely closes a long-standing funding gap for kitchen work, but the group and the board placed limits on use of the funds.
What the board approved: The board accepted the FOTE funds with four stipulations listed on the public record: (1) a pre-existing $14,000 grant that FOTE obtained specifically for kitchen equipment must be used for equipment and not for construction, plumbing, electrical work or similar expenses; (2) the remaining FOTE funds are designated for the kitchen and may be used for equipment or construction-related kitchen expenses; (3) none of the funds may be used for salaries, programming, supplies, or other operational costs; and (4) the board will adjust the previously appropriated town amount for the kitchen when accounting for the donation.
At the meeting Donna L. Sands, FOTE president, said the nonprofit’s members voted to dissolve after 20 years of service and wanted the remaining funds to go toward completion of the senior center’s kitchen: “We decided that since we're not as active as we would like to be, the best thing would be to liquidate and to turn it all over,” she said and submitted the group’s letter and images of the checks to the board.
Board action and votes: The board voted unanimously to accept both donations and recorded the stipulations for the larger FOTE contribution. The vote on the FOTE gift was 5–0 with the explicit stipulations noted on the record.
Ending: Select Board Chair Mike Curry thanked FOTE and town donors, noting the long history of volunteer fundraising that helped create and equip the senior center. The board asked town staff to track the restricted funds and reflect the donation in the senior center’s capital budget reporting.
