Lafayette , La. Honors Seniors with Silver and Gold Banquet

Roughly 200 people including host agency directors and supervisors, Senior Aides and special guests attended the Silver and Gold Luncheon awards held by the Lafayette Council on Aging in Lafayette , La. , on May 27 in celebration of Older Americans Month. Mayors from several of the area parishes including Mayor/President Joey Durel of Lafayette , Mayor Hazel Myers of Scott, Mayor Ruth Fontenot of New Iberia , Mayor Eric Martin of St. Martinville and more came out for the event. Malcolm Myers from Louisiana Sen. John Breaux's office also attended to extend his thanks on behalf of the Senator's office for the great contributions made by seniors in the community. Project director, Brenda Pourciau arranged for Senior Aide job developers from each of the parishes served by the Lafayette Council on Aging to pin gold and silver ribbons on their town mayors in honor of Older Americans Month.

In honor of their commitment to senior employment and training, several local companies and organizations were recognized for the contributions they have made to seniors in the community. Local employer Jackson Hewitt was honored for hiring Senior Aides during 2003-2004 year. Acadiana Regional Development District was recognized for providing training and funding for seniors. KATC Channel 3 was also awarded for its outstanding coverage of senior events during the year including public service announcements of the Senior AIDES Program. SMILE Community Action Agency ( St. Martin , Iberia and Lafayette ) was also honored for providing free computer skills training to Senior Aides from St. Martin and Iberia parish.

The event and public relations efforts of the project resulted in at least nine newspaper articles during the month on the council's participation in Older Americans Month, the luncheon, the silver and gold ribbon campaign and the personal stories of Senior Aides like Abby Babineaux, who was hired by the Opelousas Tourism Center after receiving job training with them. Click to read articles from:

Abbeville Meridonal, April 20, 2004

Daily Review, May 6, 2004 and Franklin Daily Review, May 13, 2004

Jeanerette Enterprise, June 2, 2004

Teche News, May 7, 2004

Rayne Independent, May 6, 2004

The Church Point News, May 5, 2004

Crowley Post-Signal, May 12, 2004