时间:2025-10-23 03:43:27 来源:网络整理编辑:時尚
Lola Silvestri is 94 years old and absolutely electric.Her house is unapologetically covered in bold
Lola Silvestri is 94 years old and absolutely electric.
Her house is unapologetically covered in bold, pink, damask-print wallpaper and tiny amusing trinkets. She's bubbly and fiercely independent -- and she's ready to eat.
Lola is inviting you to lunch. And it's an honor.
SEE ALSO:6 startling facts about child hunger in the U.S. — and how you can helpLola is one of seven seniors featured in a new campaign from Meals on Wheels, a nationwide network of community-based, nonprofit programs dedicated to providing vulnerable seniors with food and companionship. The campaign, titled "America, Let's Do Lunch," showcases the commanding personalities of Meals on Wheels clients, who share how the program has impacted their lives.
The spots were created with the hope of inspiring a new generation to volunteer with the 62-year-old organization.
An estimated 1 in 6 seniors, or 10 million people, in the United States face hunger. It's a problem Ellie Hollander, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels, says doesn't get enough attention -- mainly because it happens behind closed doors.
"We know we have a huge hunger problem -- and it's growing," she says.
With seniors living longer than ever before, the population of people over the age of 65 is booming nationwide, coming in at a staggering 46 million. It's estimated the senior population will double by 2050, meaning a program like Meals on Wheels will become even more essential to address the epidemic of senior hunger.
But Meals on Wheels isn't just about feeding seniors who are low-income, unable to prepare food or otherwise in need of a mealtime aid. Hollander says the program is also about providing companionship.
"We have a huge hunger problem -- and it's growing."
More than 15 million seniors -- or 1 in 4 people over age 65 -- are living alone. Meals on Wheels helps curb potential loneliness that comes with that isolation, personalizing food delivery with genuine companionship from volunteers.
Currently, Meals on Wheels relies on a core team of 2 million volunteers to do this work. But that volunteer base is also aging, according to Hollander -- and that's concerning for the organization as a whole.
"Three-quarters of our volunteers are 55 years or older," she says. "We recognized we need to inspire a new generation of volunteers to step up and backfill our current volunteers as they age up and possibly become Meals on Wheels clients themselves."
To goal is to add 1 million additional volunteers to the Meals on Wheels headcount in the next three years. To attract volunteers, Hollander said, the nonprofit is working to reframe how younger generations see aging in America -- and the "America, Let's Do Lunch" campaign is part of that effort.
"To some young people, going to visit a senior in their home seems scary."
Market research done prior to the campaign indicated millennials were especially hesitant to connect with older generations due to stigma. Many of them view aging as depressing, sad and undesirable.
"To some young people, going to visit a senior in their home seems scary," she says. "It turns people off."
For the campaign, which seeks to disrupt this troubling thinking, Meals on Wheels decided to highlight the electric personalities of clients like Lola.
There are also the Spanns, who have been married for 76 years and live in an adorable green house. There's Julius, who uses poetry to help him make sense of the world and of himself. And there's Harvey, a blind musician who has always pushed limits and broken barriers.
Sharing their stories is an effort, Hollander says, to show potential volunteers not only what they could bring to a senior's life, but what a senior can bring to theirs.
"There is mutual value and reward in that human connection."
"For many seniors, the person who volunteers to drop off a hot meal and gives a friendly smile is the only person a senior sees in a given day," Hollander says. "But there is mutual value and reward in that human connection."
"America, Let's Do Lunch" is running online through a dedicated website and via the hashtag campaign #LetsDoLunch. The campaign will also use donated television and radio airtime to showcase stories of seniors.
Meals on Wheels has also enlisted social media influencers to get the message out to young people, recruiting supporters like YouTuber Meghan Camarena and senior social media maven Baddie Winkle.
The series of video, radio and photo ads were created in partnership with pro-bono ad agency Anomaly and the Ad Council. Noted photographer Mark Seliger, who had photographed some of the most iconic covers of Rolling Stone, shot the campaign.
To find local volunteer opportunities with Meals on Wheels, visit here to find a program in your local area.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
TopicsSocial GoodAdvertising
This company is hiring someone just to drink all day2025-10-23 03:35
英超最新積分榜 :阿森納逆轉豪取4連勝,利物浦9球橫掃獲首勝 !2025-10-23 03:27
尤文名宿 :穆裏尼奧成功放緩了比賽節奏,他善於換人調整2025-10-23 03:18
意大利媒體 :梅西在場上特別活躍!大巴黎在歐冠會讓尤文顫抖!2025-10-23 03:12
5 people Tim Cook calls for advice on running the biggest company in the world2025-10-23 02:59
吃飯睡覺打拜仁 !於帕解圍失誤,小圖拉姆單刀破門助門興領先拜仁2025-10-23 02:56
開場76秒破門,弗拉霍維奇打入個人意甲生涯最快進球2025-10-23 01:45
歐冠大門關閉!那不勒斯不願簽下C羅 ,提侮辱條件婉拒門德斯2025-10-23 01:10
Felix the cat just raised £5000 for charity because she's the hero we all need2025-10-23 01:03
記者 :巴薩簽B席的前提是德容降薪或者離隊2025-10-23 00:57
Did our grandparents have the best beauty advice?2025-10-23 03:31
菲爾米諾紀念利物浦百球 :和這幫小夥子經曆了一段難忘旅程2025-10-23 03:27
不裝了 ,本澤馬點讚哈蘭德引熱議 !曼城很不安,兩年後來皇馬接班2025-10-23 02:52
碾壓局 !本澤馬超高票數當選歐足聯年度最佳球員2025-10-23 02:47
Nate Parker is finally thinking about the woman who accused him of rape2025-10-23 02:44
足球——英超:曼城勝水晶宮2025-10-23 02:08
維埃拉:曼城進球後很難應付他們的勢頭 ,對於比賽有遺憾2025-10-23 02:04
索默 :拜仁給我們施加了很大壓力,門將有時候需要運氣2025-10-23 01:59
Uber's $100M settlement over drivers as contractors may not be enough2025-10-23 01:54
曼聯贏球,但看了曼城 、利物浦、阿森納 、切爾西後,卻快樂不起來2025-10-23 01:25