Groton – The town of Groton has signed an agreement with Groton Community Meals to allow the free meals program to use the Groton Senior Center on Monday nights.

Groton Community Meals is a nonprofit volunteer group that prepares and serves free evening meals on the first, second, fourth and fifth Monday at Faith Lutheran Church and on the third Monday at St. John’s Christian Church in Groton.

Town Manager Mark Oefinger said the group approached the Town Council about a year ago and asked about using the kitchen and cafeteria of the former Fitch Middle School. But the space would have needed investment to meet code, Oefinger said.

"To me, it was a no-brainer to try to find an existing space, and everybody seems to be receptive," he said of the arrangement with the senior center.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed on March 28 by the town and on April 4 by Groton Community Meals, the senior center will make its kitchen available four evenings a month.

The program will offer meals at the senior center from 6 to 7 p.m. on the first, second, fourth and fifth Monday of each month, starting June 6, Marge Fondulas, director of Groton Human Services, wrote in an email. Meals will be served on the third Monday at Faith Lutheran Church.

The senior center would provide a building monitor during the time the center is open and allow meal volunteers to use supplies like pots, pans and serving trays, the agreement said.

Groton Community Meals would provide all food and volunteers needed to prepare and serve the meals and bring its own silverware and plates. The group would also clean the kitchen and dining area and be out of the building no later than 8:15 p.m., the agreement said.

The meal program would provide a certificate of insurance to indemnify the town and replace any lost, stolen or broken property, under the agreement.

Groton Community Meals was organized in September 2014 in response to an increasing demand for free food in Groton. Within a month, the program was serving 80 to 90 people a week.

Fondulas said the group expects an additional 25 to 50 people to arrive from neighborhoods and complexes around the senior center.

The meal program was at maximum capacity at Faith Lutheran, she said. The church has space for 75 to 80 people in its dining area and was serving an average of 85 to 115 meals, including seconds, she said.

Groton Community Meals would have a storage area in the Groton Senior Center and space for a refrigerator and a freezer it supplies.

More than 50 volunteers have signed up to help with the program, many of whom have taken safe food handling training offered through Ledge Light Health District, Fondulas said. Only volunteers who have competed the training may work in the kitchen and serving area, she said.

d.straszheim@theday.com