A food service center offering meals and fellowship to needy senior citizens will be serving its last hot meals today, a victim of the economy.

The Lowndes Nutrition Center, operating out of the old Coastal Plains EOA building at 900 South Troup Street, ceases operations today, said Paige Dukes, public information officer for Lowndes County.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “It’s an unfortunate situation.”

The nutrition center is a grant program run by the South Georgia Regional Commission headquartered in Waycross, she said. Grant money was given to the regional commission, which let out bids for the food used in the program, Dukes said.

The program used to be locally administered by the city of Hahira, but years ago Hahira handed it over to the county, Dukes said.

Lowndes County didn’t pay for the food, but provided $2,000 a month, or $24,000 a year, to handle the program’s administrative costs — until the most recent county budget was passed, when all funding for outside agencies had to be eliminated, she said.

Aside from hot meals Monday through Friday, the center also provided fellowship for about 20 senior citizens a day, she said. Speakers would come in to talk about health-related issues such as nutrition, games were available and people would come to “hang out,” she said.

If outside money could be found to cover administrative costs, the program could be restarted, Dukes said.

“One group wouldn’t have to do it all,” she said. An arrangement might be possible in which one group or organization could pay the monthly $2,000 administrative cost one month and another group the next month’s, Dukes said.

Those who depended on the nutrition center for their meals can still go to the Soup Kitchen, located in the old Leila Ellis school building on Lee Street, she said.

Anyone wishing to to talk about the program can call 671-2400, Dukes said.