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AARP Foundation Summer of Service Event in Washington D.C. Aims to End Senior Hunger
AARP Foundation’s Summer of Service to Seniors℠ Meal Pack Challenge, sponsored by the AARP Credit Card from Chase gathered thousands of volunteers to pack nutritious meals for seniors in need and bring awareness to senior poverty. This past Summer I was honored and excited to be invited to the Meal Pack Challenge in Washington, D.C. and serve alongside over 3,500 volunteers.
The energy at the event in DC was contagious! Young, old and in between gathered together to serve their community. Carla Hall, co-host of The Chew, native Washingtonian and spokesperson for the AARP Credit Card from Chase, was also there to help pack meals for the D.C. community and encourage her fellow volunteers. Carla’s excitement for the cause and positive attitude was exactly what volunteers needed as they measured, packed, and sealed their way through 90-minute shifts.
Wearing hairnets and aprons, volunteers worked with their teams in assembly lines to package lentils, rice, and seasonings into meal packs. Each meal pack held nine servings! Once a box of 288 meal packs was complete, a cowbell was rung. Every time I heard one ring, it brought a smile to my face. The ring signified another 288 meals for seniors in my community. That’s huge! The cowbell also created some friendly competition among teams, who worked faster and faster to get out as many boxes as possible.
At the end of the two days, volunteers in Washington DC were able to pack over 1.5 million meals for hungry seniors in the D.C. metro area. Boxes were picked up by the Capital Area Food Bank and will be shipped to local shelters and organizations that serve seniors and others in poverty. My heart swells every time I think about the great work that was accomplished in just two days!
The Summer of Service to Seniors℠ event kicked off its inaugural year three years ago in Washington, D.C., and has grown tremendously since then. This year, for the first time since the event began, the AARP Credit Card from Chase has sponsored three other service events in Memphis, TN; Denver, Co; and Minneapolis – St. Paul, MN. In total, volunteers in the four cities were able to pack more than 3 million meals for seniors in poverty!
If you didn’t get to participate in any Summer of Service to Seniors℠ events this year, you can still give back and help #EndSeniorHunger with the AARP Credit Card from Chase!
#EndSeniorHunger with the AARP Credit Card from Chase
When speaking with Executive Director Brent Saliman at the Washington, D.C. Meal Pack Challenge, he stated that over $8M has been donated by the AARP Credit Card from Chase and that they are committed to continuing to support this amazing cause.
You can be a part of this too! For every purchase made at a restaurant using the AARP Credit Card from Chase, $.10 is donated to the AARP Foundation in 2017, up to $1M. By using the AARP Credit Card from Chase, your weekend brunch plans just got even more meaningful. In addition to donations, cardmembers can also select to get cash back, gift cards or travel, simply by using the card on everyday purchases.
We all have loved ones that could benefit from the work that AARP Foundation is doing, so why not use a card that could help support them? I’m excited to see what goals we can surpass next year with AARP Foundation and the AARP Credit Card from Chase. Let’s continue to work together to #endseniorhunger.
