BRATTLEBORO — After 23 years running the Brattleboro Senior Meals program, Chris McEvoy is stepping down as its executive director.
Cynthia Fisher, who has served of the Senior Meals board as its assistant chair, has succeeded McEvoy, who had led the program since its inception in 1997 under the auspices of a different organization and spearheaded the formation of the current nonprofit in 2004.
Fisher started in her new position on Nov. 13.
According to the Senior Meals board, McAvoy is retiring from her position to pursue other interests.
In a news release, the board said “it is happy to have someone with the managerial skills to continue the work of Brattleboro Senior Meals at a time when all of our resources are focused on providing seniors with meals safely.”
The meals program is a nonprofit, standalone food-service organization that runs a “congregate dining program” for seniors out of the Brattleboro Senior Center.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, in-person dining has given way to takeout meals.
Brattleboro Senior Meals also has the responsibility of meals preparation and distribution for the over-60 and disabled population of the greater Brattleboro area in accordance with the guidelines of the federal Older Americans Act.
The agency runs the Meals on Wheels program in Brattleboro, Vernon, West Brattleboro, Guilford, and Dummerston, which delivers approximately 100 meals each weekday.
Until 2004, the meals program had been connected with the Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont, now known as Senior Solutions.
When that organization decided it would no longer fund the meals program in Brattleboro, McEvoy, with the help of a group of seniors headed by the late Greg Propster, decided to form a nonprofit.
With this accomplished, the board said that McEvoy “moved the program forward with her management and leadership skills.”