Over a hundred seniors on fixed incomes turned out Wednesday – the sixth time since the program started in Ceres – to receive free groceries courtesy of the Second Harvest of the Greater Valley.

The Silver Harvest program distributes bags of groceries at the Ceres Community Center on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, to seniors who meet the income eligibility guidelines. Ceres and Hughson seniors who are at least 60 and meet low-income eligibility may receive the free food. Single seniors qualify if they have a monthly income of $2,071 or less qualify while a two-person household cannot exceed $2,811 per month.

Helping to distribute the food last week were staff members and special needs volunteers from the Community Outreach program in Turlock.

Food items differ from week to week but a sample last week included rice, beans, pasta, oats, broth, cereal, cheese, snacks and orange juice. Second Harvest also teams up with the Mobile Fresh program to give away produce items like potatoes and carrots.

If there is more food than takers, leftover bags of food are available for seniors who make more income than the guidelines allow and those who don’t live in the service area.

To sign up, seniors must fill out paperwork at the Community Center, 2701 Fourth Street, and provide proof of Ceres or Hughson residency, such as a utility bill. Seniors who qualify as a registered member will be given a special card with a number.

The city of Ceres was approached by Second Harvest to bring it to Ceres for the first time.

“We said yes because we thought it would be a good program for the community,” said Crystel Aguilar, the city’s recreation coordinator. “It started off slow where not a lot of people signed up but then it’s slowly grown.”