Businesses donate to Meals on Wheels Senior Wish Program

BUSINESS DONATIONS helped boost Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island's Senior Wish Program. From left to right: From left to right: Mason Im, BCBSRI; Christina Castle, BCBSRI; Lauri Kaplan, Meals on Wheels RI; Carolyn Belisle, BCBSRI; Mya Kemp, BCBSRI. /COURTESY BLUEE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF RHODE ISLAND
BUSINESS DONATIONS helped boost Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island's Senior Wish Program. From left to right: From left to right: Mason Im, BCBSRI; Christina Castle, BCBSRI; Lauri Kaplan, Meals on Wheels RI; Carolyn Belisle, BCBSRI; Mya Kemp, BCBSRI. /COURTESY BLUEE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF RHODE ISLAND

PROVIDENCE – More than 200 area seniors will receive some extra necessities this holiday season, thanks to business donations to the Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island Senior Wish Program.

The program was created to address non-dietary needs of isolated and homebound seniors: things like hats and scarves, blankets and socks, said Meghan Grady, executive director for Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island.

“Seniors can be harder to reach than children and families because of the isolation that homebound seniors face,” Grady said. “This helps them remember that people are there, and people care.”

Though the program has existed since 2005, a new wave of energy emerged in this year’s collections thanks to donations by several corporate partners, Grady said.

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Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, for example, chose to fill its traditional adopt-a-family holiday donation drive with the wishes of Meals on Wheels seniors this year, setting out ornament “wishes” for employees to pick from its holiday tree. The health insurance company also encouraged employees to shop for the senior wish items at Boscov’s in Providence Place Mall, which opened an online registry for customers wishing to purchase items for the senior wish program.

Carolyn Belisle, managing director of community investment for BCBSRI, estimated the company contributed gifts for 150 seniors.

“It was a lot of fun to watch,” Belisle said. “It was awesome to see how quickly our colleagues would strip the tree of all the tags.”

Other corporate donors to this year’s collection included United Way of Rhode Island; Sansiveri, Kimball & Co. LLP; and Home Instead Senior Care, according to Grady.  Gifts will be delivered by Meals on Wheels volunteers this week.

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Email her at Lavin@PBN.com.

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