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If you receive Meals on Wheels from AgeSpan, you may be surprised to see who is at your door next week.
Local elected officials are teaming up with AgeSpan staff to deliver meals and a smile during Community Champions Week next week as part of the national March for Meals campaign during Nutrition Month. Across the United States, one in four older adults lives alone and feels lonely. Meals on Wheels delivers a daily, hot meal plus a wellness check and friendly visit.
“It’s a way to spread awareness about the Meals on Wheel program, and it’s a great way for these elected officials to connect with their constituents,” says AgeSpan CEO Joan Hatem-Roy. “Over the years, we’ve had many officials serve as Community Champions as part of March for Meals.”
Each March, Meals on Wheels celebrates the historic day in 1972 when a national nutrition program for seniors, which became Meals on Wheels, was added to the Older Americans Act. This year’s celebration comes at a time when eight out of 10 local Meals on Wheels programs are still delivering meals to more older adults than they were prior to the pandemic, and operational and food costs are still rising even as inflation slows.
In 2022, AgeSpan provided 789,000 home-delivered meals to 5,206 individuals all thanks to our more than 250 volunteers.