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Mayor Teresa Rich praises volunteers, seeks $1.5M grant for senior center kitchen
Summary
Farmington Area Commission on Aging honored longtime volunteers at an annual breakfast, highlighted more than 110,000 Meals on Wheels deliveries and said city leaders are pursuing a $1.5 million federal grant to build a commercial kitchen at a proposed senior activity center.
Farmington Hills Mayor Teresa Rich, joined by Farmington Mayor Joe Larusa and Commission on Aging staff, praised hundreds of volunteers at the commission’s annual recognition breakfast and said the city is pursuing a $1.5 million grant to support a commercial kitchen at a proposed senior activity center.
"It is my absolute honor to serve as mayor of this incredible city," Mayor Teresa Rich said, thanking volunteers who support Meals on Wheels, telephone reassurance, the gift shop and other services. Rich told the gathering the city is "working with Congresswoman Haley Stevens' office to get a grant for a million and a half" specifically to fund a commercial kitchen at the Hawk property senior center project.
The gathering at the Castic Center also served as a status check on senior programs that rely on volunteers. Nutrition services coordinator Teresa Bryant said the cities’ meal programs rely on an extensive volunteer network: "Last year, we delivered over 110,000 Meals on Wheels and 15,000 congregate meals." Bryant told attendees the programs depend on more than 100 volunteer drivers who run about 17 routes and on dozens of packers and kitchen volunteers who prepare holiday and special-event meals.
Program staff and volunteers described a range of other efforts. Anna Durham, the center programmer, highlighted support groups, a growing Cycling for Active Adults club (256 members last year) and volunteer-run pickleball sessions. Outreach counselor Teresa Jerkovich Edson reviewed the volunteer-run gift shop and the Adopt‑a‑Senior program, which worked with 52 volunteers last December to deliver gifts and coordinated a 90‑package delivery through the Goodfellows warehouse on Dec. 20, 2025.
The commission presented several awards. The Aldo Vagnosi Spirit Award went to Marcy Silver (accepted in absentia); the Loretta Conway Senior Division Award honored Glenn Cardardoza for more than 25 years of Meals on Wheels driving; Marge received the Gold Award for long service managing the gift shop; and Tom and Kathy Neil received the Margaret Lorita Diamond Award for decades of community volunteerism.
The commission also recognized a bystander intervention that stopped a suspected gift-card scam. The group presented a community commitment award to Cody Moore, a Walgreens employee who refused to sell $500 in gift cards to a customer his colleagues suspected was being targeted and who later accepted the commission’s recognition and thanked organizers.
Organizers closed the event with photos and a reminder that many programs are recruiting volunteers; staff said further details about programs, registration dates and volunteer needs will appear in the center’s messenger and at upcoming registration events.
The Farmington Area Commission on Aging holds the recognition breakfast annually to honor volunteers who support services for older adults across Farmington and Farmington Hills. City leaders said the senior-center kitchen funding effort is ongoing and that they will report developments if the grant application advances.
