Senior Services Fights to #SaveLunch

SENIOR SERVICES FIGHTS TO #SAVELUNCH MOVEMENT THIS MARCH

SUPPORT WILL HELP TO FIGHT SENIOR HUNGER AND ISOLATION IN

SOUTH HAMPTON ROADS AND WESTERN TIDEWATER

NORFOLK, VA – (March 1, 2024) – Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia (Senior Services) is marching with the Senior Services Capitol Hill Club, Better Together Café participants, and community members as part of #SaveLunch – a nationwide campaign led by Meals on Wheels America designed to rally communities around our senior neighbors and protect the essential services that enable so many to remain healthy and independent at home. This year’s March for Meals campaign not only celebrates the 1972 establishment of a national nutrition program for seniors but also focuses on advocating for increased funding for that very same program. Meals on Wheels of America is calling all Community Champions to speak out for seniors and raise awareness during Community Champions week (March 18-22).

Senior Services will kick off Community Champions Week with a march on March 18th at 2:00 p.m. in person at 2551 Eltham Ave. Ste. Q, Norfolk VA, 23513, or you can join them LIVE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SSSEVA. During the rest of the Community Champions Week, all Senior Services’ Better Together Café sites will be hosting their own marches to advocate for #SaveLunch.

“Older adults right here in Hampton Roads are hungry,” according to Steve Zollos, CEO of Senior Services. “Our goal is to end food scarcity among older adults by ensuring access to healthy meals, fresh produce, and nutrition education.”

For over 50 years, Senior Services has been providing essential services to older adults in South Hampton Roads and Western Tidewater. Fighting food scarcity has become one of the pillars of their mission, next to ending homelessness and social isolation. Just last year, Senior Services served 225,797 full-prepared meals, and they continue to see a hike in not only the cost of food but also the need for nutritious meals for older adults.

National #SaveLunch efforts in March will commemorate the historic day in March of 1972 when the Older Americans Act was amended to include a nutrition program for Americans 60 years 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.

“We commend all of our 2024 Community Champions for stepping up 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. 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, contribute, or speak out for the seniors in South Hampton Roads this March, https://www.ssseva.org/programs/meals-on-wheels/.

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About Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia:

For fifty years, Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia has been supporting and enriching the lives of older adults in South Hampton Roads and Western Tidewater through advocacy, education, information, and comprehensive services. The nonprofit has impacted tens of thousands of lives for the better, by providing easy access to high-quality programs and services designed to help older adults remain healthy, active, and engaged. To learn more about Senior Services, call 757-461-9481 or visit www.ssseva.org.

About Meals on Wheels America

Meals on Wheels America is the leadership organization supporting the more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country that are dedicated to addressing senior hunger and isolation. Powered by a trusted volunteer workforce, this network delivers a comprehensive solution that begins with a meal and is proven to enable independence and well-being through the additional benefits of tailored nutrition, social connection, safety and much more. By providing funding, programming, education, research and advocacy, Meals on Wheels America empowers its local member programs to strengthen their communities, one senior at a time.