Lynn, Massachusetts, March 6, 2019 – Greater Lynn Senior Services (GLSS) announced today that it will be participating in the 17th annual March for Meals – a nationwide celebration of Meals on Wheels and our senior neighbors who rely on the vital service to remain healthy and independent at home. GLSS’ celebration will include various activities during the month of March, including a St. Patrick’s Day Party—complete with corned beef and cabbage—in the Lynn Senior Center on Thursday, March 14, 2019. A hot, nutritious lunch is offered every week day from 11:00 a.m.–12:00 noon to people age 60 and older for a small donation.
As in past years, staff from the City of Lynn’s Community Development Department will serve meals in the senior center during the week of March 11–15. “The volunteers from City Hall always enjoy serving the meals to the seniors,” said Allison Perry, Project Operations Assistant with the City’s Community Development Department. “The staff of the Community Development office have been volunteering since 2006, and we look forward to this week every year.”
In addition to hundreds of meals served every day in local senior centers, which provide an opportunity for people to socialize with others and take part in a wide variety of activities and wellness programs, GLSS delivers on average 700 meals every day to isolated, homebound seniors in the Greater Lynn area “The services we provide are a lifeline for seniors in the Greater Lynn area and the need is rapidly increasing,” said Ben Graff, MS, RD, Nutrition Program Manager at GLSS. “Together, we can keep our senior neighbors well-nourished, feeling safer and more connected to our community as they age.”
The annual March for Meals celebration commemorates the historic day in March of 1972 when President Nixon signed into law a measure that amended the Older Americans Act of 1965 to include a national nutrition program for seniors 60 years and older. Since 2002, community-based Meals on Wheels programs from across the country have joined forces for the annual awareness campaign to celebrate this successful public-private partnership and garner the support needed to fill the gap between the seniors served and those still in need.
“The month of March is a fitting time to not only celebrate the successful history of Meals on Wheels, but also bring us together to support a solution that will strengthen communities into the future,” said Ellie Hollander, President and CEO of Meals on Wheels America. “With 12,000 Americans turning 60 each day, now is the time to invest in these vital programs so that we can provide every senior in need with the nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks that will enable them to live healthier and independent in their own homes.”
GLSS is the non-profit Area Agency on Aging and Aging Services Access Point serving people age 60 and older, adults with disabilities, and their families and caregivers in Lynn, Lynnfield, Nahant, Saugus, and Swampscott.