In the North Bay area, it's volunteers who make sure the rubber hits the road so that the local Meals on Wheels program can do the good work it's known for.
"We service approximately 200 people over the year and serve over 23,000 meals. We have clients that receive meals five days a week, our volunteers deliver Monday to Friday between 11 – 1 p.m. Other clients receive meals only on certain days of the week. Clients have the options of purchasing frozen meals as well, in order to cover other meals throughout the week," says Kerri Milne-Rivest, the RPN who manages the program at the local VON office on Shirreff Avenue.
She says one of the biggest misconceptions is that the service is only for the elderly, explaining "Meals on wheels is not only for seniors needing nutritional help, but it is also for any adults that have a physical disability or mental disability which allows them to have a nutritious meal in their own home."
Milne-Rivest says they work hard to make it as affordable as possible. "It is an amazing service that is very cost-efficient. We rely on donations from the community in order to keep our costs as low as possible," she adds.
Milne-Rivest says it's truly the volunteers who make the difference so the program can be the success it is. "We run solely on our volunteers who deliver these meals for us. We can’t thank them enough. We have approximately 40 volunteers in total, on average we use about 7 to13 volunteers on a daily basis. Some are paired up with friends or a spouse, some do not drive so they have someone else that drives them while they deliver food."
Milne-Rivest says the feedback they receive makes her job - and the work of the volunteers worthwhile.
"We have been told several times that due to our service clients are able to stay in their home and not look into long term care. They are happy to have interactions with our volunteers as some clients have no family in town. Our volunteers have also notified our office with any concerns in regards to their living arrangements or any emergency that has happened. We have even had some diabetic clients state that their sugar levels have been lower since they have been on the Meals on Wheels program."
If you're wondering where most of the food comes from, Milne-Rivest says, "Our hot meals are prepared for us daily by Cassellholme. They have a wide variety of meals that they prepare for us, such as roast pork with mash potatoes, gravy and vegetables, or chicken paprika, rice and vegetables, or spaghetti with meat sauce and vegetables. They also prepare some of our frozen meals as well that we deliver weekly to those who wish to have a meal for dinner time or on weekends. The meals are low sodium with your protein, starch, and vegetable."
She says if you've got some time, they've got some hungry people you can help.
"We are always in need of volunteers, either on a weekly basis or on an as-needed basis if we have someone who cancels their route for a day. We can be reached by calling the VON Office 705-472-8050 or email [email protected] anytime."
