19th Annual March for Meals

March for Meals is a nationwide campaign that recognizes the historic achievement of the Older Americans Act (OAA) signed by President Nixon on March 22, 1972. The OAA paved the way for Meals on Wheels as we know it today: a thriving collection of 5,000 programs nationwide that provide millions of meals, safety checks, and nutritional education for home-bound seniors.

Meals on Wheels programs across the country, including in San Francisco, celebrate the month-long event by inviting local, state, and federal officials to deliver meals to the homes of seniors and at the same time, raise awareness about food insecurity issues older adults face daily.

The Older Americans Act of 1965 was the first federal-level initiative aimed at providing comprehensive services for older adults. It created the National Aging Network comprising the Administration on Aging at the federal level, State Units on Aging at the state level, and Area Agencies on Aging at the local level.

This year’s celebrations across the country look a little different as a result of the pandemic due to concerns with COVID-19. In San Francisco, we’ve substituted with other activities including making phone calls to seniors to decrease loneliness and isolation, and we’ve been hosting Zoom meetings with local and state officials to talk about senior nutrition programs in the City and how we best can serve this growing population of friends, family, and neighbors.

Our friends from Delta Dental also got into the spirit of March for Meals. They crafted 1,000 thinking of you cards to be sent to seniors and the company is providing 4,000 dental kits to Meals on Wheels clients — a little something to brighten their days and their smiles. Recently, Meals on Wheels San Francisco and the Delta Dental Community Foundation partnered for an initiative to improve the oral health of the Bay Area’s most vulnerable seniors.