WASHINGTON — A Maine social worker will testify in front of a U.S. Senate panel about the struggles facing the state’s aging population.

Dixie Shaw will travel to the U.S. capital to share her first-hand experience as the director of Hunger and Relief Services for Catholic Charities in Caribou, Maine.

She will testify in front of the Senate Aging Committee at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in room 562.

Shaw will comment on the difficulties experienced by senior citizens who rely on Social Security and live in rural areas. Shaw runs two food banks, which supply 25 food pantries and more than 24,000 people.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, says the daily struggles facing Maine’s elderly are “heartbreaking.”