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LEWISTON — SeniorsPlus, Western Maine’s designated agency on aging, will collaborate with Evergreen Subaru as part of the national Subaru Share the Love program. Share the Love raises funds for five preselected charities. Meals on Wheels nationally is one of the selected charities for this campaign. And as SeniorsPlus is the local Meals on Wheels chapter, it is partnering with Evergreen Subaru during this campaign. 
The two organizations will partner together to hold a “Share the Love Food Drive” for seniors in need from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, at Evergreen Subaru, 774 Center St. in Auburn.
Foods gathered at the food drive will be used by SeniorsPlus to create emergency food packs of nonperishable foods for distribution to people in need suffering from hunger. SeniorsPlus, through its Meals on Wheels program, serves more than 96,000 meals annually to almost 800 individuals.
“These Emergency Food Packs enable us to divert a crisis hunger situation while longer-term solutions are found. No one should go hungry,” said Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president and CEO of SeniorsPlus. She added that this winter they anticipate the demand for Meals on Wheels will exceed their budget and force the reinstatement of a wait list for Meals on Wheels. More than 200,000 Mainers struggle against hunger.
Items on the wish list for the food drive include nonperishable foods (dry goods, canned foods, etc.) suitable for snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner. These may include meals in a can (soup, stew, chili), canned tuna or chicken, peanut butter, low-sodium canned vegetables, low-sugar whole grain cereals and healthy snacks.
Soda, candy, items packaged in glass, and bulk quantities of rice, flour, or sugar are discouraged.
In addition, Evergreen Subaru is partnering with Meals on Wheels America on the national Subaru philanthropic campaign Share the Love. Through the 2016 Share the Love Event now through Jan. 3, Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased to the customer’s choice of the four national charities, including Meals on Wheels America, with a minimum guarantee of $250,000.
In addition to these partners, Subaru retailers have selected more than 660 hometown charities for their customers to support as well. By the end of this year’s event, Subaru hopes to exceed a grand total of $90 million donated since the creation of Share the Love.
The overall program goal of SeniorsPlus, which is headquartered in Lewiston, is to assist older adults and adults with disabilities in Franklin, Oxford and Androscoggin counties to remain safely at home for as long as possible. The majority of older adults (greater than 95 percent in an AARP survey) wish to remain at home until they die.
The provision of Meals on Wheels can make the difference between staying at home and going to a nursing home or other facility. Each meal provides one-third of the recommended daily allowance of nutrition, a safety check and a friendly visit to vulnerable adults.
Volunteers gave 14,352 hours to the Meals on Wheels program of SeniorsPlus during the past year. SeniorsPlus works with many nonprofit service agencies in the community, with informal agreements of collaboration, counting on each other as a strong network of referral/collaboration/service delivery to serve the consumers in our communities.
