Millionaire’s challenge to benefit Meals for ME

Getting more than you pay for has never been easier. Alan Shawn Feinstein, a multimillionaire from Cranston, R.I., has a plan that will make donations to Meals for ME go even further to help seniors.

Feinstein has a goal of ending hunger in the United States, so for the past decade he has donated $1 million annually to organizations across the country that provide food to people in need. His funds are used as a match for monies raised by the food programs between March 1 and April 30. He calls this philanthropic event the Feinstein Challenge.

Meals for ME is taking that challenge. All donations that we receive, during March and April, will be eligible for a small portion of Feinstein’s million.

“This is a really wonderful thing that he does every year,” said Gail Ward, director of nutrition at Eastern Agency. “As government funding shrinks and demand for services increases, it’s more important than ever before to look to the private sector for help. The number of meals served has increased 7 percent in the last year.”

For 31 years, Ward has seen the number of meal donations fluctuate depending on the economy. Yet, through good times and bad, every elderly person who desired a meal received one.

And little extras make a difference, but they are not always affordable. However, from a decorated cake for a holiday celebration to fresh produce, Meals for ME tries hard to make lunch something “to look forward to for the thousands of seniors we serve,” Ward said.

“Whether the patron is receiving a home-delivered meal or is visiting one of our many community dining rooms, we want their lunch to be special,” said Ward. “For the homebound, the volunteer delivery driver is often the only personal contact that the person will have during the course of a day. In addition to the nutrition of the meal, it is a nice check-in mechanism.”

Feinstein believes that we are each put on this earth to help those in need, and his $1 million will go a long way toward that end. His million is divided proportionately among all of the agencies that take the challenge. The amount raised by each agency, nutrition program or food bank, dictates the amount of the match.

“We hope to raise $10,000 this year,” Ward said. “It is always exciting to see how supportive the community is when we start getting donations.” Of course, all donations are tax deductible.

If you’d like to take the Feinstein Challenge, make out a check to Meals for ME Challenge and mail to Meals for ME, 450 Essex St., Bangor, 04401, or you can deliver your donation to EAA or your local Meals for ME dining room. You may also donate online at www.eaaa.org.

Meals for ME is debuting its “other side” 5:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, at the Isaac Farrar Mansion on Second Street in Bangor. Silver Plate Catering is designed to be an entrepreneurial expansion of the nonprofit Meals for ME program. Proceeds garnered by Silver Plate Catering go directly back into the Meals for ME program.

Silver Plate Catering is but one of three caterers providing food at the Magic in the Mansion fundraiser. The cost is $25 and all of the proceeds of this wine-tasting event will go to the mansion’s upkeep. This historic building needs some TLC.

For more information, call Jessica Gallagher at the Bangor Y at 941-2815.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865, toll-free (800) 432-7812, e-mail info@eaaa.org, or log on www.eaaa.org.