From time to time, you’ve heard us talk about Meals on Wheels on this blog. We do it because it’s a super important part of what we do at the Red Cross for our seniors and those with disabilities – helping them to live independently.
The Ontario Community Support Association has named this week as Meals on Wheels week – an opportunity for us to highlight our program and the volunteers who make it happen.
Our volunteer drivers for Meals on Wheels and Red Cross Transportation Services have made so many trips that, last year alone, they drove enough kilometres to circumference the earth 80 times!
That’s 297,300 meals delivered in Canada in one year.
Whether you, or your family members, have used Meals on Wheels, it is most likely that you’ve heard of the program. That’s because it’s been around since the Second World War. A group of volunteers from the Red Cross Women’s Voluntary Services would go into communities with mobile canteens to provide meals to war orphans and individuals who had lost their homes. The idea stuck with us over the years.
Today, the program is made possible by a small army of committed volunteers. They are people like Anne Huitema, of Barrie, who has been volunteering for 30 years. She’ll drive through snowstorms to make sure her clients have their meals!
Stay tuned this week as the Roving Red Cross Reporter, Jen Mayville, blogs about her day in the field with our Meals on Wheels volunteers.
