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PHOTO: Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president and CEO of SeniorsPlus, presents Don Harden, the former director of aging Services at Catholic Charities Maine, with the 2021 Ikaria Award at the Fill the Plate Breakfast to benefit Meals on Wheels at SeniorsPlus on March 19. (Submitted photo)
LEWISTON — Don Harden was presented with the 2021 Ikaria Award at the Fill the Plate Breakfast March 19, for his work supporting the state’s older population.
The annual event benefits Meals on Wheels at SeniorsPlus, which is the designated western Maine agency on aging. Proceeds benefited Meals on Wheels of Androscoggin, Oxford, and Franklin counties. The Ikaria Award honors an individual in the community for singular and outstanding contributions toward improving the lives of older adults.
“I have come to know Don very well over the past 12 years and turn to him for wise counsel from time to time,” said Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president and CEO of SeniorsPlus, in presenting the award. “He is the epitome of healthy aging and is known as the E.F/ Hutton of the aging world — when he speaks we listen. He refers to himself as evolutionary, not revolutionary, but I believe he is truly a bit of both.”
Harden, of Portland, is former director of aging services at Catholic Charities Maine, where he was employed for 40 years. He is a founding board member of the Maine Council on Aging and is vice chair. He has been active on committees and a legislative commission to address long-term care workforce challenges. His passions are healthy aging and addressing ageism.
Award-winning poet and memoirist and Bethel resident Richard Blanco, 2013 presidential inaugural poet, shared selections from his works and thoughts on the theme “Sustenance: My Food, My Culture, My Elders.”
Last year, Meals on Wheels at SeniorsPlus and its congregate dining services provided 205,000 meals to more than 2,000 homebound older adults and adults with disabilities in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties, almost doubling the number of meals of the previous year. Each meal provides a third of the recommended daily allowance of nutrition, a safety check and a visit. The Fill the Plate Breakfast was presented in conjunction with March for Meals, a national campaign of the Meals on Wheels America.
The overall program goal of SeniorsPlus is to assist older adults and adults with disabilities in the tri-county area to remain at home safely for as long as possible. The overwhelming majority of older adults (greater than 95% in an AARP survey) wish to remain at home until they die. The Meals on Wheels program provides nourishment, socialization, and regular safety checks.
