Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president and CEO of SeniorsPlus, left, stands with Gary Crocker, center, who was the keynote at the 2024 Fill the Plate Breakfast to benefit Meals on Wheels at SeniorsPlus. Lewiston resident Lucy Bisson, right, received the 2024 Ikaria Award for her outstanding contributions toward improving the lives of older adults. Submitted photo

Lewiston’s SeniorsPlus, the designated Agency on Aging for Western Maine, held its annual breakfast March 22 to benefit its Meals on Wheels nutrition program.

The 2024 Fill the Plate Breakfast had an audience of 170 attendees at the Hilton Garden Inn Riverwatch in Auburn. The breakfast honored Lewiston resident Lucy Bisson with the 2024 Ikaria Award and featured a talk by Maine humorist Gary Crocker.

Last year, SeniorsPlus delivered more than 170,000 meals to 1,800 homebound older adults and adults with disabilities in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties through its Meals on Wheels program. Each meal provides one third of the recommended daily allowance of nutrition, a safety check, and a visit to these vulnerable adults. The majority of the clients of Meals on Wheels are lower income or on fixed income, according to a news release from SeniorsPlus.

Born in Lewiston and raised in North Monmouth, Crocker offered remarks and observations about Maine and its people. After teaching public speaking at Cony High School in Augusta, he joined the Waterville Police Department. Crocker eventually became the spokesman for the Community College System at the Maine State Legislature.

The event included the presentation of the 2024 Ikaria Award, which recognizes an individual or organization for singular and outstanding contributions toward improving the lives of older adults, to Bisson, a former SeniorsPlus volunteer and current executive director of the Lewiston/Auburn Senior College.

The breakfast is presented in conjunction with March for Meals, a national campaign of the Meals on Wheels Association of America.

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