Just two weeks ago, we wrote on this page that county seniors were struggling amid a lack of food sources in the wake of several grocery store closures during the past year.

Unfortunately, this week saw the discontinuation of yet another food source in Butler County — the community dinners at Slippery Rock’s Center Presbyterian Church.

The event’s coordinators announced last week that the dinners would no longer be held, and the organization that provided the meals has been dissolved. The reason given was unfilled leadership roles and a decline in volunteer support.

That’s a shame.

The county already has been dealing with a decline in places to purchase groceries following the closure of Friedman’s Freshmarkets sites in Chicora, Butler, Butler Township and Saxonburg two years ago and the shuttering last summer of Evans City’s Viola’s Market.

Many seniors — who are being forced to travel long distances to buy groceries or rely on places like dollar stores, where fresh produce is in short supply — are justified in their fears that the county is becoming a “food desert.”

Marilynn Martin Blinn, the Slippery Rock dinners’ coordinator, said information and records regarding the program will be saved, so they are available in case someone wants to relaunch the dinners.

We hope that either people or an organization in the community take up the mantle and get the community dinners up and running again.

While the dinners served the obvious purpose of providing sustenance to hungry members of the community, it also provided substance for others. Blinn said the dinners also provided an opportunity for lonely people — often seniors who don’t get many visitors — to share a meal with others and take part in social interaction.

On top of that, it provided community-building opportunities. Members of various churches and organizations cooked a meal together, and the events provided a place where they could discuss further collaboration.

Those who are food insecure in the Slippery Rock area have some options — Slippery Rock University’s food pantry, Bob’s Market, helps students in need, while the Feed My Sheep food pantry is an option for hungry community members.

But we hope Slippery Rock residents or organizations step forward to take over the community dinners, which provided invaluable services — food, naturally, but also a sense of community and the possibility of interaction — to the borough.