PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Nutrition leaders with Aroostook Agency on Aging announced that the local Meals on Wheels program is participating in #SaveLunch – a nationwide campaign designed to rally communities around their aging neighbors and protect the essential services that enable so many to remain healthy and independent at home.
Earlier this month the Agency launched a fund drive to help close the widening funding gap in the home-delivered meals budget.
For more than 50 years, the Aroostook Agency on Aging’s Meals on Wheels program has provided essential support to vulnerable older adults in northern Maine. The program serves as a lifeline for many, ensuring they receive the nourishment and support they need to remain in their own homes.
The Agency, according to Director of Home Care Services and Nutrition Chris Beaulieu, is currently funded to provide about 66,000 meals for FY24. “That allows us to feed 275 food insecure older adults for the year. Unfortunately, the need is much, much greater as we now have another 220 individuals on a waitlist to receive meals,” he said.
“For many of these individuals, these meals are their main and sometimes only, daily and/or nutritious source of food and can mean the difference between someone going with or without a meal that day. We want to ensure all seniors have this basic, yet critical necessity met, and we need local donations to do that. We encourage all who can, to please give.”
National #SaveLunch and March for Meals efforts this spring commemorate the historic day in March of 1972 when the Older Americans Act was amended to include a nutrition program for Americans 60 and older. More than 50 years later, 12 million older Americans are still threatened by or experience hunger, and one in three seniors feels lonely. That is why Meals on Wheels programs from across the country are joining forces to raise awareness and support to ensure we can continue to address food insecurity and malnutrition, combat social isolation, enable independence, and improve health for decades to come.
“Now is an important time for us to unite to ensure that Meals on Wheels is there for all of our senior neighbors in need,” said Ellie Hollander, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels America. “In the face of soaring demand and costs that surpass our current resources, we need to come together as communities to bridge the gaps. I encourage you to participate by donating, volunteering or speaking out for seniors to play your part. We can’t do it alone – it takes all of us to save lunch for our seniors.”
For more information on how you can volunteer, donate, or speak out for the older persons in Aroostook County, visit https://www.aroostookaging.org/give-back-b or call 1-800-439-1789.
