Westborough Seniors Friends 'Concerned' Their 'Reputation is Being Smeared'

Friends of the Westborough Senior Center Inc. officials said Tuesday night their organization "refused" to fund some items on a "wish list" requested by Council on Aging Executive Director Alma DeManche in January.

The nonprofit group also is "concerned" that its "reputation is being smeared as a result of misinformation and innuendo," officials said in the press release.

The council and town officials announced Monday in their own press release that they have stopped accepting funds from the non-profit Friends corporation, which they said is "refusing to provide a complete accounting of their fundraising activities and expenditures on behalf of the Westborough Senior Center to the Town and Council on Aging." The council and the town said the council will accept donations until a new nonprofit forms this fall.

The volunteer-run Friends said Tuesday night that in January, DeManche "presented to the Friends a wishlist which included such items as jackets and shirts for staff drivers, hot bags/coolers for Meals on Wheels, gift cards for volunteers, and ink replacements for copy machines and printers."

"After discussing the items on the list, the Friends decided to not to fund any of these projects because they did not – in the view of the Friends – directly support seniors," the release stated.

“We are stunned that the Town has decided to sever a relationship with an organization which has devoted its entire income to support worthy senior projects simply because we did not agree to fund the Executive Director’s pet projects,” Friends President Priscilla Federici added.

Since its inception in 1986, the Friends have supported such items as a handicapped accessible door at the Westborough Senior Center, for $2,655; and a fire suppression system for the center's kitchen stove, for $2,100, the release states.

The corporation's bylaws call for it to be "self-governing and support 'items not provided for by the Town of Westborough or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,'" the release states.

The 202-member group's revenue comes from its dues, which are $5, as well as fundraising, the release states.

"The total annual income of the Friends (has) never exceeded $10,000 in any calendar year," the release states.