Written by J.J.

June, a month of flowers and sunshine, is also a month of graduations across the nation.  Maybe you know someone who celebrated  that happy day. Maybe that someone was you! More and more, older generations are returning to school to brush up on skills, get a first degree, or pursue dream professions. A recent article at NBCnews.com claims students over 35 years of age are expected to comprise 19% of all college enrollment in 2020. You're over 35 aren't you? Wondering if it's right for you? Read on.

Are you considering a return to school? Community colleges are beginning to offer "Plus 50" programs  that are accelerated and specific so older students can learn a new trade without spending years gaining that knowledge. Maybe you have life or business experience or prior college credit that you'd like to apply toward degree completion. The Learning Counts initiative can facilitate the conversion of "prior learning" to help you achieve a college degree faster. Do you wonder if you can handle the college environment? Check out "What its like to be a Middle Aged student" at the Atlantic.com Are you unsure about a return to school? Listen to the inspiration of twitter users at USNEWS or better yet...chime in! Today there are several ways to explore your interest without making a full commitment. Some colleges offer extension courses, geared toward life long learners, that don't test or give grades such as UCLA's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.  In addition, many community colleges and some four year colleges allow "seniors" to sit in on classes that aren't full. Call colleges in your area and inquire about that non credit option. It's a good way to feel out your compatibility with college learning and its fun!

We're gracefully aging in America and we're still hungry for new learning and experience. Isn't it wonderful to see educational institutions recognizing the enormous potential and intellectual capacity of our later lives?  Lifelong learning was just a catch phrase years ago. Today, it's part of mainstream thinking resulting in graduation celebrations at every stage of life. Increasingly, June graduates experience this rite of passage at the end of formal parenting or a long professional career. Their graduation signals a departure into a new and equally rich life ahead. Talk to a new graduate and you'll be touched by the thrill and satisfaction of their achievement. Travel that road yourself and you'll find a wealth of ideas and a world of discovery.

Update July 2014: This short story profiles an 89 year old Japanese American whose education was interrupted during the period of internment. Now, 72 years later, he has a moving graduation ceremony. No matter if it's high school or college graduations bring a unique sense of achievement and pride.

Written by J.J.

Like that title? Let's make it a reality. How can we do it? What would it take?  Why now?

How can we do it?  By harnessing the unparalled talents of our retiring boomers and leveraging the power that historical numbers of people aging in America can generate. We can make this historical trip, growing older together en masse, a journey to remember; a time we reinvented America's perception of greying seniors by combining our talents to forge meaningful improvements and solutions to stubborn societal problems such as the hunger that plagues one in seven of our cohorts.

What would it take? A little bit from all of us.  If  all or even many of us focused energies on alleviating the hunger in our own generations we'd create rapid momentum toward relief.  You may already be working to end senior hunger. If so, thank you. Leave a comment and tell us your success stories and the strategies that worked. If you're not already working on this issue then start simply.  Resolve to check in with neighbors who may not be able to get out or whom you suspect aren't eating enough. Start in your community by giving time or money to Meal on Wheels or the food bank.   Offer your culinary services to nutritional organizations that feed seniors or grow a garden of food for hungry families. Use your influence to talk with farms, restraurants, and grocery stores to encourage their donation of surplus food. Blog or write about senior hunger to lift awareness. Get creative and start food assistance programs in your city or town. Host a virtual food drive. Are you political? Impact your local or state policies on senior hunger. We can solve this problem. We can provide a healthy nutritional foundation to every one of our aging friends that worry about their next meal. America isn't just getting older its getting wiser and, together, we can make it a better place to live.

Why now? We're aging in a wave of historical proportions and creating a spike in senior hunger. Since 2001 incidences of hunger in older Americans have increased 78% according the 2012 Senior Hunger Report Card published by Meals On Wheels, a nationwide senior nutritional program.  The report card gives America an F for failing to create structures and programs that address the needs of hungry seniors. It's time to for us to create those  programs and structures ourselves.

Singer Tracy Chapman asked, long ago, "If not now then when?" and our generation, more than any younger generation, knows that now is the time to solve these problems. Never has an aging generation enjoyed such numbers and power with which to act. We have a unique opportunity to leave our world a better place. We can and I believe we will. 

Update October 2012: Gleening for food banks is on the rise in America according to a recent national article

Update August 2013: Sequestration and austerity budgets are creating trying times for Meals on Wheels distributors.

Update April 2014: "People helping people. That's my lifestyle," says 68 year old Gloria Henderson in this great video and article on gleaning.

Update June 2014: Seattle Tilth's Just Garden program builds gardens for families with low incomes.

Update Jan 2015: The Ron Finley Project encourages gardens in urban neighborhoods. "When I first did this it was more for beauty and smell: lavender, jasmine, rosemary..." There was nothing there, he said, "my thing is put it there yourself, grow it yourself..."

Update Jan 2015: With 8.3 million seniors now experiencing hunger Meals On Wheels is pledging to end senior hunger by 2020. Can you help? For the organization's comment about the bi-partisan Farm bill passed in February 2014 see here.

Update Jan 2015: Feeding America has published their 2014 Hunger report. With SNAP benefit funding on the decline and senior hunger rising they note that 77% of elders experiencing hunger have high blood pressure and 47% live with diabetes.

Update Jan 2015: The National Foundation to End Senior Hunger has published research documenting the link between senior hunger and health outcomes.

Update Sept 2015 great PBS reporting on senior hunger which has doubled since 200. How can you help?