Meals on Wheels delivers more than food
PETERBOROUGH – Meals on Wheels is about more than just delivering food, according to longtime program volunteers.
“We see a lot of people that can’ t even get out. We’re the only ones that come to see them every day,” said Mona Ferguson, who has volunteered with the Community Care Peterborough program for more than 50 years.
Mona and her husband, Ernie, said a lot of the people they see on their deliveries are just grateful to have someone to talk to.
Mayor Daryl Bennett kicked off the program’s Community Champions Week on Tuesday by delivering meals to seniors alongside the Fergusons.
The week is part of the International March for Meals campaign and offers well-known members of the community the chance to shed a light on senior isolation and hunger in the city.
Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef will be joining program volunteers on Thursday. The day after, Fresh 100.5 morning host and Peterborough Petes voice Pete Dalliday and the program’s chef will help deliver meals, organizers stated in a press release.
The program serves between 50 and 80 hot meals every weekday in the city through Community Care Peterborough, a non-profit charity organization. Some 40,906 hot and frozen meals were delivered by its 180 volunteers last year.
There are 137 non-profits in Ontario receiving government funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to cover part of the meal program’s costs.
The rest of the money is provided by donations and user fees – which are kept as low as possible, officials stated.
In 2015-2016, nearly three million meals were delivered to more than 38,800 Ontarians.
The organization will also be hosting its annual Meals to Go fundraiser on March 9.
The fundraiser allows people to order turkey or vegetable sandwiches for lunch to their workplace with the additional option of sponsoring a meal for a senior.
Orders for the fundraiser are due by Friday.
Those interested in home support services such as Meals on Wheels, transportation, reassurance calls and visits can call the Peterborough 705-742-7067 to be directed to the office nearest them.