Recent News

Elected officials’ team up with AgeSpan staff during March for Meals campaign
March 14, 2023

Community champions to deliver meals and friendly visits to older adults

Across the United States, 1 in 4 older adults lives alone and feels lonely. Meals on Wheels is a vital program that delivers more than a daily, hot meal plus a wellness check and friendly visit.

Local elected officials are teaming up with AgeSpan staff to deliver meals and a smile during Community Champions Week March 20-24 as part of the national March for Meals campaign during Nutrition Month.

“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 ten 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 soaring even while inflation slows.

In 2022, AgeSpan provided 789,000 home-delivered meals to 5,206 individuals all thanks to our more than 250 volunteers.

AgeSpan, formerly known as Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley and North Shore, is a private, nonprofit agency dedicated to helping people in northeast Massachusetts maintain the highest level of independence, health, and safety as they age. AgeSpan is a Massachusetts Aging Services Access Point and an Area Agency on Aging. For more information about AgeSpan and its services, visit www.AgeSpan.org or call 800-892-0890.

Recent News

AgeSpan Maintains National Accreditation Status for Care Management

LAWRENCE - AgeSpan is proud to announce its 3-year accreditation for Case Management for Long Term Services and Supports from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for our Home Care Program. NCQA awards the status of Accredited–3 years to organizations that...

Kay elected president of Meals on Wheels Massachusetts

There’s a new person leading Meals on Wheels Massachusetts, and it’s one of AgeSpan’s own. AgeSpan Nutrition Manager Rebecca Kay was voted in by representatives of the state’s Aging Services Access Points (ASAP) as president of the organization. “It’s something I had...

Listen: Making Connections Through Meals

  Our Reunir Restaurant Program is featured in a new podcast series, ReiMAgine Aging, produced by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, in partnership with Point32Health Foundation and the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative. Listen to the...

Celebrating 50 on the Field at Riverwalk

MEDIA RELEASE LAWRENCE - AgeSpan is celebrating its upcoming 50th anniversary and 10-year lease renewal at Riverwalk Innovation District with a special 50 on The Field event on Wednesday, October 4. AgeSpan Chief Executive Officer Joan Hatem-Roy and Sal Lupoli,...

Mobile Market helping make ends meet

By Terry Date | tdate@eagletribune.com   LAWRENCE — It’s Tuesday morning and raining on people huddled closely in a line that stretches along two sides of the Boys & Girls Club. They wait, most of them under umbrellas, to enter and receive fresh spinach,...

Resize text-+=