On Wednesday, March 4, 2026, the Gateway Area Development District (GADD) tested the operational capacity of its back-up Regional Kitchen, Site B, at the new Montgomery County Senior Center during a planned readiness exercise. Regional Kitchen personnel carried out a full-scale operational run at the site. Over the course of the morning, 159 congregate meals were prepared for senior centers in Bath, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, and Rowan Counties. Additional meals were produced for MotorMeals, the region’s mobile food truck. Site B will operate on a quarterly schedule to ensure equipment functionality, staffing coordination, and distribution logistics will remain ready.

The test reflects the critical role senior nutrition services play across the Gateway region. GADD’s Senior Centers Division connects older adults to essential services that support health and independence, with meals at the forefront of that mission. The Gateway Regional Kitchen in Frenchburg prepares, packages, and distributes congregate and home-delivered meals to residents age 60 and over throughout the five-county region. In 2025, the kitchen provided nearly 35,000 congregate meals and just under 106,000 home-delivered meals to over 1,000 participants.

Recognizing that any disruption to meal production would directly impact the region’s most vulnerable population, Montgomery County officials and GADD leadership prioritized the development of a back-up kitchen during planning for the new Montgomery County Senior Center. The goal was clear: ensure continuity of senior nutrition operations.

Community-based senior center services in Montgomery County, and the Gateway region, have evolved significantly over the past decade. The project began in 2018 as a proposal to renovate the former senior center on West Main Street. That facility presented substantial ADA limitations, along with ongoing maintenance, accessibility, and safety concerns. As those issues persisted, the Fiscal Court and GADD relocated services to the Montgomery County Health and Civic Center in April 2021 to maintain safe and uninterrupted operations.

As long-term needs and funding strategies were evaluated, the project shifted from renovation to the construction of a new, purpose-built facility. The final design incorporated a fully functional commercial kitchen capable of serving as a back-up Regional Kitchen. Designed to mirror the primary site in Frenchburg on a smaller scale, Site B can be placed into service quickly when needed.

About Gateway Area Development District

GADD is the regional council of government and federally designated Area Agency on Aging and Independent Living, along with the federally designated Economic Development District by the Economic Development Administration, serving Bath, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, and Rowan Counties in east-central Kentucky since 1969. GADD is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of elected officials from the counties and communities within the region as well as non-elected citizen members representing the region’s social and economic institutions. GADD Board and staff are committed to the regional planning, promotion, and coordination of programs for community, infrastructure, economic, and social development.