WHEREAS, The importance of senior centers in the lives of many citizens of Warwick grows with each passing year as the elderly population of the city continues to expand; and

WHEREAS, Senior centers provide concerned care providers with the opportunity to find employment outside of the home, to spend more quality time with young children, to devote some of their energies to church and civic activities, and to participate in many additional worthwhile activities that would be impossible were it not for the compassionate and caring people at the centers looking after their loved ones; and

WHEREAS, Seniors very often look forward to the time spent in the centers. Surrounded by friends with similar backgrounds and interests, and provided with engrossing activities geared to their special needs, senior centers are more like social centers to our elderly citizens; and

WHEREAS, Saturdays are particularly valuable days for care providers who work outside of the home. Needing this time away from work to take care of personal matters, or simply to be free to spend time with other busy members of the family, the fact that Warwick senior centers are closed on Saturdays is a great hardship to these people; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby respectfully requests that the Mayor of the City of Warwick do all that is in his power to open all of the city's senior centers on Saturdays; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mayor Lincoln D. Chafee.