Tamworth nonprofits seek town funding for meals program and preschool

Two local program leaders appeared Dec. 22 to ask the Select Board for town funding.

A representative of the town meals program (Speaker 1) requested $38,000, the same amount sought the prior year. She described daily operations, volunteer drivers, meal delivery routes, and congregate meal sites in Ossipee and Montmoreau. She reported 30 home-delivered meals and six congregate participants in Tamworth, said the current per-meal cost is $11.98 and noted improvements to the menu that have produced health benefits for some clients.

Later, Speaker 5 introduced Christina Bertopley as the school-age program treasurer and said the preschool (identified in the meeting as Kenworth Preschool, formerly Tamara Preschool Children’s Center) seeks $18,000 this year. The preschool’s total budget was described as roughly $32,700; current enrollment for the school-age program is six children (capacity 15). Bertopley and other board members discussed fundraising efforts (catalog sales, calendar raffle, vendor events) and operating constraints—staffing requirements and fixed costs that persist even when enrollment fluctuates.

Board members asked clarifying questions about town-specific counts and program locations. Both presenters said they keep detailed town-level tracking to justify funding requests and emphasized transparency; the board thanked them and closed the items with no immediate vote on the specific appropriations at the meeting.