OLDER AMERICANS MONTH 2020: MAKE YOUR MARK

May 2020:  Around the nation, older adults make their marks every day as volunteers, employees, employers, parents, grandparents, mentors, and advocates. They offer their time, talents, and experience to the benefit of our communities.

For 57 years, Older Americans Month (OAM) has been a special time to recognize these contributions. Led by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) each May, OAM also provides resources to help older Americans stay healthy and independent, and materials to help communities support and celebrate their citizens.

This year’s OAM theme, Make Your Mark, highlights older adults’ unique and lasting contributions to their communities—everything from sharing a story with grandchildren to leaving a legacy of community action.

Communities that support and include all their members are stronger! Please join Meals on Wheels Chicago in strengthening our community. Stories build community and connect us even when we can’t be physically together. Recalling adventures with childhood friends, that family weekend at the beach, a teacher who helped guide your life, or how you learned you would become a grandparent—all of those stories connect you with your past and the people who have mattered along the way. They help people you love get to know you better and feel closer to you. Looking back at how we got through other tough times can help us manage this challenging time. Sharing what we love about our friends and family members helps them feel stronger and more connected.

Stories can be told over the phone, on the computer, over the backyard fence. They can be told in letters, in pictures, in headlines and photographs collected from newspapers. We don’t have to be together to share our stories and build each other up.

We can make a mark on people’s lives with the stories we share. Post your own stories using the hashtags #makeyourmark and #oam2020.

Need OAM resources or want to learn more? Visit the official website, acl.gov/oam, and follow ACL on Twitter and Facebook.