Senator Bernie Sanders Uses Famous Meme To Raise Money for VT Meals on Wheels

For Immediate Release
Vermont V4A
Janet Hunt, Executive Director

While the recent Bernie meme and sweatshirt sales have sold out and all proceeds are going toward Senator Sanders home state of Vermont for the meals on wheels programs, we, at the Vermont Association of Area Agencies on Aging (V4A) couldn't be more ecstatic. Carol Stamatakis, president of V4A and executive director of Senior Solutions, the Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont, reports, “We at Senior Solutions are overwhelmed by Senator Sanders’ generosity! We continue to be grateful that our Senator has been such a leader at the national level on older adult issues. I have been getting calls from friends and family all over the country of all ages telling me they are ordering sweatshirts!” Courtney Anderson, the nutrition director and co-director for Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging said, “We are incredibly humbled by the extremely generous gift from Senator Bernie Sanders. For years the meals on wheels program has been underfunded, and we struggle statewide to serve our most vulnerable population. These proceeds will help continue to meet the ever-increasing nutritional needs of our older Vermonters”.

Our five Area Agencies on Aging located throughout the state are members of Meals on Wheels America whose mission is to empower local community programs to improve the health and quality of life of the seniors they serve so that no one is left hungry or isolated. The meals on wheels program is otherwise termed as home-delivered meals. Each of the AAAs contracts with local meal providers to offer four to five thousand home delivered meals per week. In November 2020 alone our AAAs meal programs provided a weekly total of nearly 25,000 meals.

The meals on wheels program has gained international attention since Senator Sanders generous sweatshirt sales. To provide a bit of history, the federal Older Americans Act (OAA) established a national nutrition program in 1972 for adults who were 60 and older. The OAA Nutrition Programs include community nutrition program sites and the home delivered nutrition programs (Meals-on-Wheels) for the purpose of 1. reducing hunger and food insecurity, 2. promoting socialization, 3. promoting health and wellbeing, 4. delaying adverse health conditions.

The home-delivered program is often the first in-home service that an older adult receives and serves as a primary access point for other home and community-based services. Volunteers and paid staff who deliver meals to older adults often spend time with the individual to help decrease feelings of isolation. They are also encouraged to report any health or other issues that they may observe. All meals provide at least one third of the daily recommended dietary allowances for adults age 60 and older, in greatest economic and/or social need, with particular attention to low-income minorities, those in rural areas, and those with limited English proficiency. The intent is to make community-based nutrition services available to older adults who may be at risk of losing their independence.

Jane Catton, vice-president of V4A and chief operations officer of Age Well states, “Age Well is humbled by this contribution to our meals on wheels programs and we are grateful to Senator Sanders for his generosity and inspiring leadership. These proceeds will ensure that we continue to meet the ever-increasing needs of older Vermonters; so many of whom are left behind alone and hungry. Meals on wheels provides nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks, allowing older adults to remain in their homes where they want to be. Senator Sanders has been a powerful advocate for older Vermonters, and we are so grateful for this support as he shines a light on the importance of meals on wheels and adequate nutrition for those in need”.

On a call today with Senator Sanders and our AAAs directors and staff, he indicated that he would advocate in his role with the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to fill the funding gap for meals on wheels. “This is encouraging”, reports Janet Hunt, executive director for the V4A. “There are not nearly enough federal or state dollars to meet the ever-increasing demands to provide nutritious meals to our older adults. We are constantly needing to seek funds through state legislation and through fundraising efforts on a local level. At present, we need to fill about a $5 per meal gap to make ends meet. We don’t want anyone to go hungry. These funds are not simply for the meal itself, either. The funds are needed for supplies, storage and refrigeration, packaging. I don’t know that everyone truly understands – or appreciates - all that goes into that one meal. Senator Sanders certainly knows, and I am certain that is why he is sending all proceeds from the Bernie meme sweatshirt to our agencies.”

With the onset of COVID-19, AAAs and providers quickly realized that community meal sites needed to shut-down and home-delivered meals had to be ramped-up. Meg Burmeister, executive director for the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging (NEKCOA) speaks about the increase in demand, “NEKCOA has seen an unprecedented number of people reaching out for the home delivered meals program during the pandemic. The strain on our systems to provide those meals is certainly a testament to the committed meal programs in our region in this largely underfunded program. Senator Sanders’ generosity in light of the humorous meme’s refocuses all on the needs to support this program.”

“Senator Sanders has always demonstrated a deep concern about food insecurity in the older Vermonter population”, says Kathy Paquet, the Central Vermont Council on Aging director of nutrition and wellness. “For over 40 years, Central Vermont Council on Aging’s meals on wheels program has been delivering nutritious meals to older adults in their homes while also providing much needed social connections for those central Vermonters. During this COVID-19 crisis, many more older Vermonters have needed the meals on wheels program. The financial support from Senator Sanders’ sweatshirt fund will go directly to our local contracted nutrition programs and volunteers who directly provide this essential service. We cannot thank Senator Sanders enough for this generous donation!”