Fund helps with Everett senior center’s new $30 membership fee

EVERETT — Bingo is back on.

The Carl Gipson Senior Center in Everett is starting to charge an annual membership fee, and there have been concerns that not everyone could pay the $30.

But the seniors have stepped up, and then some.

The fee goes into effect April 1, one of many changes while the city tightens its budget.

On Feb. 22, the senior center sent notification letters about the deadline. Just days later, a woman came by to make her payment.

“She said she was in a position where she could afford to help others and so within her check, she added another $300 for 10 memberships,” said Kimberly Shelton, the assistant parks director who oversees the senior center.

The woman asked to remain anonymous.

She’s not the only one who’s been in a giving mood.

Carl Gipson, the center’s namesake and a longtime civic leader, celebrated his 95th birthday with a party there in January. Instead of presents, he asked for donations to the Membership Scholarship Fund. The party brought in $1,565.

Another four scholarships came from the center’s recreation association, an affiliated nonprofit that runs the bingo.

Altogether, the donations have totaled $4,135, Shelton said.

So far, 314 members have paid their dues. Separately, the donations can cover 137, and counting. And the need is there — eight people have applied for scholarships, and all of them were approved, Shelton said.

“It does very much feel like the members are taking care of each other,” she said.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.

Get involved

For more information about the Membership Scholarship Fund at the Carl Gipson Senior Center in Everett, call 425-257-8780 or visit everettwa.gov/seniors.