Meals on Wheels expands into frozen meals

The agency has seen a 170 per cent increase in clients in 10 years

BRESLAU

— Community Support Connections – Meals on Wheels and More is expanding its hot meals program to prepare frozen meals that will supply programs across the province, bringing in new revenue for the charity.

Donations from two community foundations will allow the organization to get the equipment and expertise needed to move into frozen meal preparation.

It received $32,000 from the Cowan Foundation to buy two storage freezers and $40,000 from the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation to hire a chef.

Previously the community foundation granted $16,400 to buy a flash freezer.

“There’s a real science to the frozen food industry,” said Rosalind Horne, major gifts and engagement lead at Community Support Connections. “There’s a lot of tricks to the trade that we’re figuring out.”

Community Support Connections has a large kitchen, built in 2014, and a garden that supplies fresh local content. Every day, up to 350 hot meals are prepared.

Currently, it has a frozen meal line, but that’s purchased from a big company.

“We want to be able to respond to our client feedback,” Horne said.

Also, the quality is declining while the prices go up. The agency pays more for the frozen meals than it can charge clients, making it an unsustainable option.

“They’re not affordable,” Horne said.

Selling frozen meals to other Meals on Wheels organizations has the potential to generate $200,000 annually within a couple of years.

That would be money that can be invested into its core programs and services as the demand continues to grow.

In the past decade, the agency has seen a 170 per cent increase in clients.

“We really have to get creative and innovative,” Horne said.

Community Support Connections helps more than 7,500 seniors and adults with disabilities live at home independently by providing a variety of services.

These include Meals on Wheels, transportation, grocery shopping, gentle exercise, falls prevention, community dining, friendly visiting, reassurance calls, home help and caregiver support.

It relies on donors, community partners and more than 1,500 volunteers.

Frozen meal preparation will create a new opportunity for volunteers.

At the moment, Community Support Connections is experimenting with frozen meals on a small scale for local seniors.

By next summer, it’s hoped the agency can supply other programs interested in the venture.

“Frozen is important for so many reasons,” Horne said.

Having extra frozen meals is handy in the winter if a hot meal delivery is cancelled due to inclement weather or if a caregiver can’t make it.

Also it frees up people to be involved in the community because they don’t need to be home for the lunchtime delivery.

“The frozen meal offers greater flexibility.”