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THIS MONTH IN THE AD COUNCIL READINESS SERIES:
VOLUNTEER MATCHING

JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS LEFT TO GET READY!

This month we turn our attention from successful volunteer onboarding to the online hub of the Ad Council campaign: the microsite that will match volunteer prospects in your area directly to your program. The latest in the series of Ad Council Readiness Webinars, Volunteer Matching taking place tomorrow, is a must-attend event and will fill you in on the plans for the microsite – including instructions on the couple of easy steps you need to take in order to make sure your program is included!

 
  
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REGISTER NOW FOR THIS MONTH'S READINESS WEBINAR: VOLUNTEER MATCHING

WEBINAR: Ad Council Readiness Series: Volunteer Matching Webinar
PRESENTER: Susan Waldman, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Meals on Wheels America
WHEN: Tuesday, April 26, 2016
TIME: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT
FEE: FREE
REGISTER NOW

OTHER THINGS THAT WILL KEEP YOU IN THE KNOW

Be sure to visit the Ad Council Readiness Center to catch up on the whole body of tools and resources designed to help you get ready. These include Virtual Town Hall Meetings, recorded webinars, mini on-demand webinars, upcoming tools and resources, a handy get-ready checklist and other support for your campaign success. Topics include:

  • Get to Know the Campaign
  • Create a Unified Voice
  • Upgrade Your Volunteer Onboarding
  • Be Included in the Volunteer Matching Process
  • TO COME: Reveal of the PSAs and How to Engage Your Community

PROGRESS ON PSA PRODUCTION

Earlier this month, our devoted pro bono ad agency, Anomaly, worked alongside an award-winning photographer to direct several incredibly engaging and amazing seniors from across the country to be featured in our campaign. Narrowed down from a field of nearly 200 seniors nominated by our Member programs, we are confident that you will fall in love with the seniors selected to represent all Meals on Wheels clients across the country – and the rest of America will fall in love with them, too!

If you have any questions about the Ad Council campaign and what it means for your program, please feel free to contact us at adcouncil@mealsonwheelsamerica.org. We’re happy to do what we can to help you get ready!

PRESIDENT OBAMA OFFICIALLY REAUTHORIZES THE OLDER AMERICANS ACT!

 
On Tuesday, April 19, President Obama signed into law S.192, the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act of 2016, effectively reauthorizing OAA programs, including Title III Home-Delivered, Congregate and the Nutrition Services Incentive Programs, through Fiscal Year 2019. We are pleased that this bipartisan and bicameral legislation preserves the core services of the OAA as they currently exist and does not include harmful provisions, such as unfunded mandates. This reauthorization is a powerful example of what we accomplish when we raise our voices as the collective Meals on Wheels movement. Thank you for all of your calls, emails, tweets and posts – they've truly made a difference.

Read Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee’s statement here.

  
Meals on Wheels is a win-win

BLAZE A TRAIL DURING OLDER AMERICANS MONTH 2016

It's hard to believe it, but we’re less than a week away from May 1 and the kick-off of Older Americans Month! Each year, May is dedicated to celebrating older Americans, serving as a platform for all of us to honor their contributions to our economy, community organizing, the arts and more! Each May we join other aging organizations to raise awareness about the unique issues seniors face. This year’s theme, Blaze a Trail, speaks to the way older adults are reinventing themselves with new interests and passions, engaging with their communities and charting a new path of positive impact for everyone around them.

JOIN IN THE CELEBRATION

Right on the heels of President Obama signing the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act of 2016 into law, the federal entity that oversees the OAA – The Administration for Community Living (ACL) – invites all of us to be advocates this month and promote initiatives that support older Americans in our communities. Visit the Older Americans Month website – oam.acl.gov – to find more information on how to participate and how to access outreach tools including: logos, posters, badges, info sheets, sample articles and proclamations.

To fully leverage this special month, Meals on Wheels America will be providing a Member toolkit, advocacy resources and more! To get started, view our on-demand advocacy webinar, Older Americans Month: How to Blaze An Advocacy Trail This May.

VIEW WEBINAR RECORDING

 
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Be on the lookout in the upcoming days for more information on what we have planned for May!


WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Aging and Disability Resource Center, Waukesha County, Waukesha, WI
East Pasco Meals on Wheels, Zephyrhills, FL
Galilee MBC, Houston, TX
Garrett County Community Action Committee, Inc. Aging and Nutrition Services, Oakland, MD
Greater Nashville Regional Council - Area Agency on Aging and Disability, Nashville, TN
Jacksonville Senior Wellness & Activity Center, Jacksonville, AR
Juneau County Aging Unit, Mauston, WI
Sunshine Center, Senior Division of Comprehensive Connections, Mount Vernon, IL
The Lord Is My Help, Ocean Springs, MS
Watertown Urban Mission, Watertown, NY

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

NEW REPORT PREDICTS RISE IN VOLUNTEER NUMBERS AMONG NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

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With the upcoming Ad Council campaign set to send volunteers your way, now is a great time to fine-tune your volunteer onboarding process, and Meals on Wheels America partner Verified Volunteers recently released its 2016 Volunteer Screening Trends & Best Practices Report which offers valuable information on how to do just that. This report identifies universal insights that we think your program will find valuable and we've summarized a few helpful highlights below.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE REPORT

  1. 47% of organizations surveyed by the report expect their volunteer pool to expand within the year, with an additional 52% expecting their numbers to remain steady. Of those expecting growth, nearly one-third sees a 5% increase in their number of volunteers. With the pending launch of Meals on Wheels’ campaign with the Ad Council, local programs can expect a significant increase in volunteer applicants.
  2. As organizations look to these increased and continued numbers of volunteers, the report highlights the time and administrative challenges involved in screening these volunteers in-house or through a government source. For the 69% of organizations surveyed that use an external third-party screener, the report noted these challenges as less of a concern.

Read the full report to access even more insights here.

ASSOCIATION UPDATES

MEALS ON WHEELS AMERICA CELEBRATES IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARY WITH NATIONAL AGING LEADERS

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You probably already know that on March 22, 1972, President Nixon signed into law an amendment to the Older Americans Act (OAA) that established a national nutrition program for seniors — sparking the Meals on Wheels movement as we know it. Meals on Wheels America President and CEO Ellie Hollander celebrated this important anniversary by joining Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee and leaders from the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP) and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) at Washington, D.C.’s Kuehner House, a low-income senior living facility operated by local Meals on Wheels America Member So Others Might Eat (SOME).

Distinguished guests at the event witnessed the power of OAA support by touring the facilities, participating in a group exercise class and gathering with the seniors while they ate lunch.

Upon seeing SOME’s work serving seniors at the local level, Ellie noted, “It was an honor to join [Secretary Greenlee] and other aging leaders to once again celebrate and see firsthand how OAA Nutrition Programs are improving health and quality of life for our seniors.”

Read our official statement regarding the event here.

 

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ON THE MEALS ON WHEELS BRAND

It’s been over a year since the new Meals on Wheels brand launched and wow have we grown! To date, 45 local Member programs and five State Associations have adopted the new brand and many more are in the process of making it happen.

For those of you who are still on the fence about taking on a rebrand for your organization, exploring the tools that can help your program rollout the new brand as easily and inexpensively as possible would be worth the investment of your time. This month’s featured tool is the Meals on Wheels Print & Design Shop.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE MEALS ON WHEELS PRINT & DESIGN SHOP

 
The most foundational updates needed for a rebrand – like new business cards, letterhead and stationery – can be time-consuming and costly. With the all-new Meals on Wheels Print & Design Shop, there’s no need to go through the process of hiring a designer and/or a printer to create these materials. Once you sign the Brand License Agreement to officially adopt the brand, your new logo and your program contact information will be automatically uploaded into your Print & Design Shop user profile and the business card, letterhead and stationery brand templates.

From there, you can easily order everything you need to get your program’s rebrand off the ground! Learn more about the Meals on Wheels Print & Design Shop here.

 
Here’s what one of your colleagues, Jill Feasley, Director, Meals on Wheels Takoma Park had to say about the Meals on Wheels Print & Design Shop:

“The process was incredibly simple! Our new logo and information came up automatically. I just reviewed the letterhead and envelope proofs and put my order in the virtual shopping cart. Done! This process is so much easier than our previous experiences!”


Design and Print Letterhead

Business Card

Envelope Print and Deisgn

 
DON'T FORGET!

A limited number of need-based Brand Grants of up to $2,500 are available to help fund Member rebranding expenses. That’s enough to fund a new Official Member Website through our partnership with OneEach Technologies. Applications are being accepted on a rolling first-come, first-served basis and reviewed monthly, so it’s best to apply sooner rather than later! You don’t need to have signed a License Agreement yet to be eligible, so submit your application now through our Online Grants Management System.

And for more information on the Meals on Wheels brand, visit the Brand Resource Center www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/brand.

MEMBER OPPORTUNITIES & BENEFITS

YOUR PROGRAM COULD QUALIFY FOR A $750 SCHOLARSHIP
TO ATTEND THIS YEAR’S CONFERENCE

To assist Member programs unable to attend the 2016 Meals on Wheels Annual Conference and Expo in Nashville August 31 – September 2 without outside financial support, we are pleased to offer up to 100 scholarships of $750 each to be applied toward registration and/or travel.

Any Meals on Wheels America Member program can apply for the scholarships through Friday, April 29, 2016 and we especially encourage programs with a small number of staff to use this opportunity to submit an application through the Online Grants Management System. We are fortunate to be able to offer so many scholarships this year thanks to our ongoing relationship with Subaru.

SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible to apply for a scholarship, a Member program must be in good standing at the time of application submission and remain in good standing until the scholarship payments are distributed and all subsequent reports have been submitted. Scholarship award recipients will be required to register and pay full Conference Registration fees in advance of July 1. Reimbursement checks for the full amount of the scholarship award will be provided on site at the Conference.

NEED-BASED CRITERIA

To qualify for a scholarship, Member programs must demonstrate that one or more of the following hardships has adversely impacted available funding for continuing education or for attending conferences:

  1. A decrease in their overall 2016 senior nutrition revenue/funding budget (in comparison to 2015):
    • ​Initiation of a waitlist
    • A growing waitlist
  2. A notable change in the demographic composition of the program’s service area or the need for services:
    • A high percentage of the client population served near or below the poverty line
    • A high percentage of rural clients
    • An ethnically diverse population
    • An increase in demand for services in the 60+ population
    • An increase in demand for services from Veterans and former service members
    • An increase in demand for services from multi-generational households
    • Some other demographic or geographic challenge not mentioned above
    • A weather-related emergency or natural disaster this past year that affected your facilities, operations and/or service delivery (i.e., extreme snowfall, extreme cold/heat, fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, etc.)
    • Some other extraordinary hardship, not otherwise described by the categories above.

Members will be asked to complete a simple online application form with related questions. Applicants will be evaluated based on how the demonstrated hardship impacts their ability to otherwise attend the Annual Conference, and how their program and clients will benefit from attendance. Please note that, if qualified, only one scholarship will be awarded per Member program.

The application must be submitted through the Online Grants Management System no later than Friday, April 29, 2016 to be considered. Scholarship recipients will be notified by May 26, 2016.

 
JOIN YOUR PEERS IN NASHVILLE – REGISTER TODAY!

More than 140 of your peers from across the country have already taken advantage of our discounted registration rates for the 2016 Meals on Wheels Annual Conference. Early-Bird pricing is available through July 1, 2016 and additional discounts are applied when you attend with one or more of your colleagues.
Register today

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IMPORTANT NOTE: Our discounted Conference room block at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center is limited and rates will expire on August 1 or sooner if the block has filled. Last year our room block filled up very quickly, so it is important to reserve your rooms early if you'd like to stay where the Conference is taking place. You can book your stay online or by calling 1-888-777-6779. Be sure to mention the group discount code "Meals on Wheels America."

Learn more about registration, keynotes and accommodations here.

APPLY FOR A MEALS ON WHEELS LOVES PETS GRANT BY APRIL 30

Most of us have heard anecdotally or seen firsthand the strong bond between seniors and their furry companions. The Meals on Wheels Loves Pets 2016 grants are intended to support this special love between seniors and their pets by helping Member programs that have a pet program or are interested in starting one.

GRANT INFORMATION

Need-based grants of up to $2,500 are available to eligible Member programs to fund the following pet program expenses:
  • Pet food and storage, including prescription diet food and treats
  • Cat litter
  • Pet supplies
  • Grooming
  • Veterinary care, including spay/neuter, medications and flea & tick prevention
  • Temporary boarding expenses
  • Gas grants for volunteers to deliver pet food
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HOW TO APPLY

All you need to do is submit a Meals on Wheels Loves Pets grant application through our Online Grants Management System. There are two separate applications – one for those Members with an existing pet program and one for those who are interested in creating a new pet program. Although you can start working on your application at any time and save as you go, it must be finalized and submitted no later than Saturday, April 30, 2016 to be eligible.

 
IN OTHER ​MEALS ON WHEELS LOVES PETS​ NEWS...

Pet Business Magazine

Last month, the Meals on Wheels Loves Pets team attended the Global Pet Expo in Orlando, Florida. They met with pet manufacturers and distributors from across the country to tell them about the great work local Meals on Wheels programs are doing to support seniors and their pets! Meals on Wheels even got a shout-out in the April issue of Pet Business. Read the article here.

We can all work together to keep seniors and their pets together. For more information on the Meals on Wheels Loves Pets program, visit www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/petassistance.
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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

 
Did you know that we have an online discussion group where Members just like you are actively collaborating with their peers on crucial topics? Contribute and learn about these topics by joining our LinkedIn Discussion Group here. A few of the most recent conversations in the group include:

  • Best practices and products for transporting various meals;
  • How and when to recognize donors; and
  • Recommendations on emergency preparedness for inclement weather conditions.

THE LATEST TOOLS FROM ASSOCIATION PARTNER UST

 

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Meals on Wheels Member Discount Program partner Unemployment Services Trust (UST) just released its top 10 guides for 2016 Nonprofit Human Resource Management. Your program can use access these free tools to ensure it’s in compliance all year long in addition to learning the top trends in nonprofit job satisfaction.

DOWNLOAD THE TOOLKIT

Also new with UST is their latest partnership with CareerArc, forged to provide UST members with resources to offer employees assistance in finding their next job. Learn more about it through their webinar series here.

Questions? Feel free to contact UST by emailing them at info@ChooseUST.org.

RESOURCES IN THE TOOLKIT INCLUDE:

  1. Quick 2016 HR Practices Checklist
  2. Nonprofit Employee Engagement Strategies eBook
  3. Federal HR Compliance Chart
  4. Federal Recordkeeping Checklist
  5. Unemployment Cost Analysis Form
  6. 5 Myths Increasing Your Unemployment Costs eBook
  7. Small Employer ACA Checklist
  8. Large Employer ACA Checklist
  9. Workers Compensation Checklist
  10. Summary of Payroll, Retirement & Unemployment Limits

SUPPORT YOUR SENIORS WITH A VOTE TO END HUNGER

Vote to End Hunger (VTEH) launched in fall 2015 with one main goal in mind: to leverage the 2016 election process, within the parameters of 501(c)(3) status, to make hunger and poverty higher political priorities so that the next President and Congress will take action.

In order to achieve this goal, VTEH has focused on educating voters and candidates about hunger and poverty by raising awareness and empowering individuals and organizations to take action through local grassroots efforts. Groups around the country have gotten involved by attending or hosting town halls, posting on social media, participating in candidate forums, and more. To help elevate these important issues on the campaign trail, the campaign is prompting programs like yours to help get involved.

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Check out their recently-released toolkit to learn how you can get involved with the campaign, attend educational webinars, and utilize drafted social media content and other tools.

SIGN-ON AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND/OR ORGANIZATION

Questions? Contact our Public Policy Manager Crystal Espie at crystal@mealsonwheelsamerica.org.

SAVE NOW ON PRODUCTS LIKE ENSURE AND GLUCERNA SHAKE

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One of several offerings through our Member Discount Program is significantly discounted pricing on popular products like Ensure® and Glucerna Shake® through Abbott Nutrition, a market leader for oral nutrition supplements. As a Meals on Wheels America Member, your program can order directly from Abbott or through our Group Purchasing Partner US Foods. Learn how to get started on saving by contacting Steven Skelton, Business Services Manager at steven@mealsonwheelsamerica.org or 706-436-3999.

TOOLS TO HELP YOUR SENIOR CLIENTS AVOID SCAMS

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a relatively new federal agency dedicated to protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. Within the CFPB, the Office for Older Americans is working to give seniors and their caregivers the tools they need to protect them from financial abuse and to make sound financial decisions.

FREE RESOURCE FOR SENIORS NOW AVAILABLE

The CFPB created a placemat to help educate your senior clients on simple tips for avoiding common consumer scams. The placemats are free and we encourage you to order them so that you can distribute them to your seniors or use them at your congregate meals site. All you have to do is complete this form and CFPB will send the placemats directly to your program free of charge! They can be ordered by the box (1,500 placemats) or the bundle (500 placemats).

This is just one of several tools the CFPB provides seniors in order to combat the billions of dollars that financial abuse is costing older Americans  ̶  with as many as 17% of Americans 65 and older reporting that they have been the victim of financial exploitation. Telephone, mail order, and Internet scams are a big part of the problem and can be prevented. 

 
For questions, please contact advocacy@mealsonwheelsamerica.org.

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SERVE ON THE MEALS ON WHEELS AMERICA BOARD – WEBINAR, APRIL 28

Ever wonder what it takes to be a great Board Member? Participation in Meals on Wheels America governance is a valuable right, and we urge Members to be active in helping to shape the future of not just the Association, but the network as a whole. Whether you are considering nominating yourself to be a part of the Meals on Wheels America Board of Directors, or are just interested as to what is involved in playing a key role in the Association's Governance, this free webinar on Thursday, April 28 is for you!

    IN THIS WEBINAR YOU WILL:

    • Hear from three of our current Board Members, who will provide their individual perspectives on their Meals on Wheels America Board experience;
    • Learn more about what's expected of Board Members so you can decide if you would be a good fit; and
    • Have the opportunity to ask questions about all things related to Meals on Wheels America Governance.
    WEBINAR: What It's Like to Serve on the Meals on Wheels America Board
    PRESENTERS: Board Chair Liz Seman, Vice Chair and Chair of the Governance Committee Ashley McCumber, and Immediate Past Board Chair Vinsen Faris
    MODERATOR: President and CEO Ellie Hollander
    WHEN: Thursday, April 28, 2016
    TIME: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT
    FEE: FREE
    REGISTER NOW

    WHAT’S NEW IN THE NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER ON NUTRITION AND AGING (NRCNA) ONLINE LIBRARY? – WEBINAR, MAY 3

    Register for the National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging’s (NRCNA) free webinar on Tuesday, May 3 to learn what tailored resources are available in this helpful online library and discuss how the website could be designed to better meet your needs.

    NRCNA hosted by Meals on Wheels America, empowers senior nutrition programs by providing tools and resources that promote organizational excellence, service quality, business acumen and models for social entrepreneurship. Through a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living and Administration on Aging, the NRCNA offers a range of resources that cover best practices and emerging trends in the fields of nutrition, aging, healthcare integration, innovative program practices and much more.

      IN THIS WEBINAR YOU WILL:

      • Become familiar with the resources (trainings, events, reports, etc.) available on the NRCNA online portal;
      • Learn how to navigate the website and research various topics within the online library; and
      • Gain insight on the resources and training needs of nutrition and aging services professionals at each level of the Aging Network.
      WEBINAR: What's New in the National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging (NRCNA) Online Library?
      PRESENTER: Representative(s) from NRCNA
      WHEN: Tuesday, May 3, 2016
      TIME: 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT
      FEE: FREE
      REGISTER NOW

      THE POWER OF MAPPING: HOW AND WHY YOU SHOULD INCORPORATE MAPPING IN YOUR WORK – WEBINAR, MAY 12

      Register for this Leadership Academy webinar to learn how you can use valuable public data sources to map and track key subsets of your service area. The information provided on Thursday, May 12 at 3:30 p.m. EDT will enable you to utilize free software tools that can help your organization plan for the future. Presenter Jessica Tice of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs will also share a real life example of how the agency developed its Elder Needs Index Maps.

        IN THIS WEBINAR YOU WILL:

        • Learn how to find public data suitable for mapping the population;
        • Gain an understanding on how to map key population characteristics using free mapping software tools;
        • Identify ways your program can use mapping to track and plan your organization’s activities; and
        • Hear examples of ways these innovations have been applied.
        WEBINAR: The Power of Mapping: How and Why You Should Incorporate Mapping in Your Work
        PRESENTER: Jessica Tice, Research Coordinator, Florida Department of Elder Affairs
        WHEN: Thursday, May 12, 2016
        TIME: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT
        COMPETENCY: Planning for the Future
        CREDIT(S): 1
        FEE: $25
        REGISTER NOW