The Mission of the Howell Senior Center is to offer Howell residents 60 years of age and over, and their caregivers, programs and services that promote safety, encourage healthy living, and enhance quality of life.
Boxing classes at the Senior Center start June 20th, 2023!
Registration begins on 6/23 - Click HERE for details.
The Howell Township Senior Center would like to say Thank You to all of our members, the Howell Community as well as the surrounding communities for all the leftover Halloween candy, snacks, toiletries, and other items for the Troops serving overseas. We were able to pair this program with our Veteran’s Day Program in which we asked for specific donations to go to the Troops and yesterday’s “Cards for Troops” event. ASOM (Always Supporting Our Military) a non-profit organization dedicated to making sure our Troops have the quality of life they deserve while they are away from home. The Howell Senior Center started working with them this year as the previous agency we worked with is no longer in the area. We are so grateful ASOM has been taking all of our donations and raises the necessary funds to ship all of the packages overseas. Today we filled 4 of their vehicles with all of our donations and they will be sending everything out. The Senior Center has several Veteran’s and is an extremely patriotic place to come. The “Pledge of Allegiance” is recited every day before lunch is served as well as singing “God Bless America.” We collect donations for the Troops all throughout the year as well as ask for a donation for the Troops for certain programs. If you are interested in donating items, please see the list of attached items we accept:
Tylenol
Bug Repellant
Cough Drops
Hand Sanitizer
Disposable Razors
Skin Lotion
Advil
Baby Wipes
Sunblock
Peanut Butter
Granola Bars
Hard Candy
Nuts
Pringles
Snack Crackers
Trail Mix
Pretzels
Deodorant
Senior Center Boxing Program
On Wednesday, April 13th Officer Nate Headd came to the Howell Township Senior Center to host a demonstration for the Senior Boxing Program. Since advertising the program we received numerous calls of interested seniors wanting to see what it was all about. We had approximately 60 people in attendance and everyone loved it. Some people registered as new members just to be able to join the boxing program. Coach Headd was a huge hit and the demo was a success. 25 seniors already registered for the program and we know of some other seniors that couldn’t make the demo but will be signing up for it as well. Both males and females were excited to learn. It’s not only a chance for seniors to exercise in a new and exciting way, but some of them liked the self-defense aspect of it. We want to thank the Howell Township Police Department and Howell PAL for allowing Coach Headd to do this for our seniors. After Coach Headd left, the seniors continued talking about him on Wednesday and Thursday.
Anyone who is interested in joining the Senior Center can give us a call at 732-938-4500 ext. 2550
Howell Senior Center on Jersey Matters with Kimberly Kravitz
The Howell Township Senior Center and some of its members were featured on the program Jersey Matters with Kimberly Kravitz on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. The topic covered how the pandemic affected senior’s mental health. Now that the center has opened, members are back and thrilled to be surrounded by their friends again. As July approaches, more and more activities are starting at the center such as exercise, chair yoga and ceramics. Please check out our newsletter at www.twp.howell.nj.us or call us at 732-938-4500 ext. 2550. Transportation is currently limited so those that can arrange alternate forms of transportation are strongly encouraged to do so.
Howell Senior Services created a video to show some of the things that they have been doing during the pandemic since they haven’t been open for activities.
On Friday, February 25, 2022 we had Ron Erickson from Frontline Paper come to the center to show our members how to make paper from military uniforms.
Frontline Paper (formerly Known as Combat Paper, NJ) cuts the uniforms into pieces. They are than beaten into pulp using specially designed papermaking equipment, creating a slurry of fibers and water. Sheets are then pulled from the pulp and dried to create paper.
The Howell Senior Center had its first Monthly Birthday Party since we re-opened! Our last monthly birthday party was in February 2020! We want to thank Kirk Florist for donating all the carnations for the birthday people, The Howell Elks Club for the birthday cake and Mort White for providing the entertainment this month! We had such a wonderful turnout of approximately 65 people. Members were served lunch and cake and if it was their birthday they received a certificate, gift, goodie bag, balloon and a carnation flower. A good time was had by all. If you are interested in joining the Howell Senior Center, please call us at 732-938-4500 ext. 2550.
Today was the first day of bingo! The members were so thrilled to be playing again. Thank you to member Gene Cheong, our “IT Guy” for setting it all up since staff forgot how to run the program! Gene created an electronic form of bingo so that members can see the numbers being called if they have trouble hearing or if the caller is going too quickly for them. Anyone interested in playing bingo can join the Howell Senior Center and our members at 1:00pm each Monday. Please call 732-938-4500 ext. 2550 for more information.
What an amazing day it was at the Howell Township Senior Center. After closing our doors to the public on March 16, 2020, we are finally open again. We had a slow opening with 50 people and even had a few new members come and join the center today. It was so loud with everyone talking and socializing with each other, we loved it! I know we all had our masks on but you could tell that everyone was smiling under them and excited to be back at the center. Members commented about how much the center means to them and how drastically their lives changed when they weren’t able to attend. We will continue to slowly open and will introduce programs, classes and exercise in the near future. If anyone is interested in joining the senior center or would like more information, please call us at 732-938-4500 ext. 2550 or email Melanie Decker at mdecker@twp.howell.nj.us
Programs
The Howell Township Department of Senior Services offers a multitude of programs and services to senior citizens of Howell Township age 60 and greater. The majority of our programs are housed in our Senior Center building, a multi-purpose facility housed in the former municipal complex of the township. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm. Our building is handicapped accessible.
Nutrition
The Senior Services Department works in cooperation with Interfaith Neighbors, Inc. to offer a daily nutrition program to Howell’s seniors at the Senior Center. Lunch is served daily, usually at 12:00 noon.
Delivery
Home-bound seniors who are unable to attend the center and cannot prepare their own meals may be eligible for the home delivered meals that we provide. If you are interested in participating in our nutrition program or wish to volunteer to deliver meals to our homebound seniors, please call our nutrition site manager, at (732) 938-4500, ext. 2556.
Activities
Classes offered at the Senior Center include:
Craft classes
Ceramics
Computers
Exercise
Knitting and crochet
Candy Making
T’ai Chi
Jewelry Making
Free Men's Breakfast
Hair Cuts & Styles
English as a Second Language Classes
Billiards
Darts
Health Focus
Throughout the year, the center hosts a variety of health screenings and lectures of interest to seniors. In addition to a blood pressure clinic which is held on the third Monday of every month, medical professionals in our community donate their time and expertise by holding free screenings. Recent screenings have included cholesterol, glucose, cataract, glaucoma, hearing, osteoporosis, podiatry, oral cancer, and chiropractic.
We also feature health care and other professionals who lecture on such topics as physical therapy, proper nutrition, hearing loss, dental care, legal and financial issues relevant to seniors, Medicare and supplemental insurance policies, medication management, and scams and their impact on senior citizens.
Other activities at the Senior Center include bingo, holiday parties, and safe driving programs. We periodically offer self-defense classes for senior citizens as well as watercolor classes.
