By Amanda Moses
Over a hundred seniors gathered inside of the Brooklyn Sports Club’s (BSC) gymnasium for the first-ever “Adopt a Senior Brunch” with the NYPD on August 20th.
In honor of National Senior Citizen’s Day, the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau decided to celebrate the occasion by hosting a brunch that recognizes older adults and their needs, providing networking opportunities, resource services, delicious food, giveaways, and more.
Detective Deedee Fields-Gagovits coordinated the event and tells the Spring Creek Sun that she grew up in the Spring Creek area and for the most part knows many of the seniors and their concerns. Since older adults tend to be the unseen members of the community, Detective Fields-Gagovits shared that she wanted to develop a program that puts a spotlight on them while also showing her appreciation.
“I figured it was time for them to have something to let them know that they are not forgotten. So, I started out with ‘Adopt a Senior’ because I wanted them to know that we want to provide them with resources. So, it’s our way of saying we’re adopting them to give them exactly what they need,” Detective Fields-Gagovits said.
“Adopt a Senior Brunch” offered attendees free walkers, canes, adult diapers and other materials as well as access to a wide variety of resources organizations like Spring Creek Senior Partners, JASA, Reduced Fair Metrocards, FDNY safety information, and more.
For BSC Executive Director Arnie Gonzalez, seniors are always at the forefront of their programing which is why he wanted to partner with the NYPD to help host the brunch.
“This is a community center, and we want to make sure everybody’s provided for and keeping that family energy environment,” Gonzalez said. “Majority of our clientele are seniors, so we want to make sure they are taken care of. Sometimes it’s a forgotten demographic but without seniors we would not have a community. They are helping to bring up the next generation.”
Once lunch was served, the seniors and NYPD joined hands and began dancing and laughing together throughout the afternoon. From forming conga lines to dancing the “Cha-Cha,” the older adults kept members of the Community Affairs Bureau on their toes.
Sandra Surita was excited when she learned about the brunch and that seniors were finally being given the appreciation the don’t often receive.
“To see the community and the police officers coming together means a lot in this day and age, because policemen or women do have a difficult task because of the dangers that they may face, and then the community only sees one side in the black and brown communities. So, it’s nice when we could come together and break bread and see a different side the more humane side of the officers,” Surita said.
Photo by Amanda Moses
