Meals on Wheels of RI Home-Delivered Meal Program client Vivian Raposa, 76, of West Warwick, received her meal Friday, March 1, from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and UnitedHealthcare CEO Mike Florczyk in honor of March for Meals, the nonprofit’s annual public awareness campaign. On March 22, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon signed into law a measure that amended the Older American Act (OAA) of 1965 and permanently established national nutrition programming for seniors, including home-delivered meals. Each year in March, Meals on Wheels of RI celebrates March for Meals to bring awareness to its critical mission. In 2023, the Home-Delivered Meal Program served more than 363,000 meals to 2,956 homebound clients statewide, including on Block Island. For more information, visit www.rimeals.org. Founded in 1969, Meals on Wheels of RI’s mission is to meet the nutritional and social needs of those it serves so that they can maintain independent lifestyles. Nutritional and other programming focuses on food insecurity and social isolation as risk factors for negative health outcomes and loss of independence. Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island, Inc. “is funded in part by the United States Administration on Aging and state funds through the Rhode Island Division of Elderly Affairs.” (Photo courtesy Amy Garofalo, External Affairs & Mission Advancement Director for Meals on Wheels of RI)