From left, Hassan Olhaye, Fiston Mubalama, and Nsikidi Alberto enjoy lunch together at a dining site developed with funding from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.

SeniorsPlus has received a $10,000 grant from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation to continue to develop a dining site and cooking classes, with interpretation and written translation, for older adult refugees in downtown Lewiston. The program, which was launched this year, focuses on cooking and sourcing nutritious foods, including local farm foods, as well as creating a hub for social interaction. SeniorsPlus will continue to develop the program in partnership with St. Mary’s Nutrition Center and Health Androscoggin.

This new grant will support the continuation of the “Healthy Food for Every Age” program, which SeniorsPlus launched last year with an initial grant from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. The program was one of 22 not-for-profit initiatives that Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation funded in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Created in 1980, the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation supports Harvard Pilgrim’s mission to improve the quality and value of health care for the people and communities it serves. In 2015, the foundation expanded its focus to preventing childhood obesity by launching the Harvard Pilgrim Healthy Food Fund, aimed at increasing access to fresh, healthy food for families and communities in its five markets across the region.