Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As the Seneca-Babcock Community Association began its shut down, city and county officials are scrambling to find new locations for the more than 1,200 people it served daily.
"It's just devastating, not only for the East Side but for the entire City of Buffalo," said former Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw.
The shut down is also personal for Mychajliw as his brother, Dan, donated $3 million to the association for a center that bears the name of their mother, Arlene.
"There's a boat load of seniors who now have nowhere to eat their lunch," Mychajliw said.
Free lunches for seniors was one of the myriad of services the association provided at one of its scattered East Side facilities. It also ran day care operations, youth educational services, a food pantry, social activities and athletic leagues.
"It was a massive hub," Mychajliw said.
The shut down is related to financial issues including the failure by its former executive director, Cheektowaga Councilman Brian Pilarski, to properly file mandated IRS paperwork and documents dating back to 2017.
Pilarski resigned his association post on March 12 as the allegations became public.
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes called the shut down "heart breaking."
"We need to help those people," Peoples-Stokes said.
Erie County Legislator Frank Todaro, who pushed for an investigation, said he is upset by the entire situation.
"It's not fair to anyone who used the association's services," Todaro said. "They are the true victims in all this."
Todaro said he wants the state Attorney General's office to begin a probe into the association to determine what happened and why.
"We can't let things like this happen again," Todaro said.