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Application for 1998-1999 Ralph W. Ketner Employee Productivity Awards Cabarrus County Michael L. Murphy Lunch Plus Club / Kannapolis, N. C. DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTIVITYY IMPROVEMENT & REASON INITIATED: The Cabarrus County, Department of Aging - Lunch Plus Club is a Congregate Nutrition Program for the Elderly residents of Cabarrus County. This program has been in place in Cabarrus County for over twenty years. The funding for this program is provided fi.om federal legislation, the State of North Carolina and the Cabarrus County Local Government. Over the past several years, the Congregate Nutrition Program for the Eli:terly has experienced a significant decrease in participation in Cabarrus County, as well as in most areas across the nation. There have been several studies, surveys, seminars, workshops and meetings to try to identify the reason(s) for this decline, and to develop a solution to the problem. The overall number of older adults continues to grow at the fastest rate in history. However. this program is not attracting new participants. These studies have documented that the need for this nutrition service is greater than ever in the overall wellness plan of the Aging Network in order to promote independence and digni~' throughout the aging process. This Congregate Nutrition program is a vital component in the service delivery system that helps keep older adults out of long term care facilities and/or institutions. Furthermore, they have documented that the younger, older adults are not attracted to this program due to a perception that it is a "welfare" or "free lunch" program. In an effort to identify a way to re-package the local Nutrition Program for the Elderly into a product that would not only attract new participants, but a product that would provide much more than a nutritious meal for older adults, Mr. Murphy initiated the following changes in our local program. He changed the name from "Nutrition Program for the Elderly" to the "Lunch Plus Club" in an effort to eliminate some of the negative stereotypes that traditionally exists with this program, while implying that this program offers more than just lunch. He also developed a partnership with the Cannon Memorial YMCA in Kannapolis, North Carolina that has enabled the Cabarrus County to multiply the quality and quantity of services that were available through this program. Participants of this program now receive free access to the YMCA facility from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The local YMCA also provides several levels of fitness classes, water aerobics, weight training, cardiovascular training, indoor & outdoor walking/running tracks, craft classes, art classes, ~valking club, line dancing, square dancing, choir, and more. Participants are also encouraged to participate in a wide variety of leisure activities, including horseshoes, shuffleboard, billiards, board games, card games and socialization. Educational classes/programs include various speakers presenting a wide variety of topics that relate to today's older adults. 4 Through this relationship with the Cannon Memorial YMCA, he was able to successfully expand this collaborative network of service providers to include, NorthEast Medical Center, Roxvan - Cabarrus Community College, the City of Kannapolis Recreation Commission, the City of Kannapolis Community Development Board, the Rowan County Senior Services Department, the United Way and the Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation, Inc. These agencies allowed us to expand the average number of meals served per day over 375%