Meals on Wheels: Nourishing and Strengthening the Community

It is 4:42am. I awaken to the familiar vibrations of an iPhone and the feeling of cold air on my cheeks. “Could you turn the light on so that we start to wake up?” I ask my partner as he grumbles a response of acceptance. I reach for my phone on the bedside table and reflect on the time once more. Alex has always had a strange tendency to set alarms at unusual hours. Why couldn’t it be 4:45am, or even 5? I leave my internal monologue as a topic for another day. After all, there are more important concerns to contemplate.

We assemble a backpack of our items and scurry out to the car through the early-morning air. Alex takes claim of the driver’s seat and I am secretly pleased with this development. He is the better driver of the two of us and as we pull away from the curb side, I realise I have forgotten my glasses. I produce my phone from my pocket and pull up my ‘notes’ app. To the workers of Meals on Wheels, I begin. My thumbs hover over the screen and I feel the proverbial nervousness of beginning to write a piece. That sentence just feels too detached.

We’ve made it to the Hawkesbury River and the sun is beginning to peak over the rolling hills of the highway. The water glistens with flecks of gold as we pass over the bridge at Mooney Mooney. I attempt to write once more: To the people caring for some of our community’s most vulnerable during COVID. Alex is driving me to visit my mother at her workplace. We are making a two hour trip from Sydney to Newcastle to meet with her and the volunteers of Meals on Wheels.

In Australia, Meals on Wheels is a respected household name. It is a community organisation that has been operating for over 60 years across the country, providing the aged and disabled with nutritious meals and conversation. A quick Google search tells me that in one year, close to 15 million meals are delivered by over 78,000 volunteers across both urban and rural Australia. Mum has been managing the branch at Lambton for close to 10 years. In that time, she’s built up a team of pretty incredible volunteers.

It is now 7:30am and we come to our destination at Meals on Wheels. Alex idly stretches his legs while I begin taking photos of the exterior of the venue. From the outside, Meals looks just like any other modest house in the backstreets of suburbia.

After entering the kitchen mum gives us a smile and a flapping sort of gesture from afar which she claims is mimicking a hug. Due to COVID-19, social distancing measures have been introduced throughout Australia. We are now required to keep 1.5 metres apart. I start to wander with my camera, asking mum questions as I go. One thing that my mother has never been is a morning person. Considering her energy and enthusiasm in providing a comprehensive overview of daily operations, I think she must really love her job.

“With the COVID crisis, the food that we are packing is all frozen. We were doing fresh meals before, but the frozen meals allow us to decrease the number of visits and contact time we have with our clients. We’ve got everything we need right here,” she explains while gesturing around the room. “Over there is our freezer, cool room and storeroom. We’ve got plenty of benches which we use to pack the meals.”

I notice a bunch of toilet paper over in the far corner. “Ah yes,” mum says. “Recently we had the local supermarket drop off a bunch of toilet paper for us to deliver as well. Our clients are mostly elderly. They’re not really getting down to the shops for their own safety, and the toilet paper has been in short supply for weeks now.”

As mum is talking, I head over to the freezer to take a look at some of the meals. There’s schnitzel, quiche, roast beef and steamed fish. Mum lets me know that the clients also get bread, snacks and desserts in their orders. She says that they’ve been delivering meals to some of their clients for decades, while others are new. The registration process is simple - just call up and mum will add you to their list.

As we’ve been having our conversation, one of mum’s volunteers has been hard at work in the background. Mum tells me that Ray has been here longer than her, close to 18 years now. Ray has been keeping to himself throughout our conversation. When I ask him why he has been volunteering here for so long, he simply tells me “it's an amazing place to work.”

I head outside as the delivery drivers are starting to arrive. Before COVID, there would be 7 or 8 people working in the kitchen in the morning. Now there are three at the absolute maximum, and all of the volunteers over 70 years of age have been told to stay at home for the time being.

I strike up a conversation with Robyn, one of the newest volunteers. She started just a month ago, taking over one of the delivery routes from a 70+ year old volunteer named Kevin who mum has told to stay home. Robyn is warm and genuine, telling me that she decided to offer her help because she was privileged with an abundance of free time.

I am also introduced to Lyn: “It’s only my fourth shift here, but it seems to me like all the clients are hating being stuck inside - they seem quite lonely. I don’t have a job at the moment, so it’s nice to be able to get out of the house and come here to volunteer.”

Another volunteer calmly tells me that he is not an everyday hero and does not want to be interviewed. His avoidance of praise reflects the ethos of the organisation. As an essential service, they simply exist to provide food and build relationships with the community’s most vulnerable citizens.

Mum calls out my name and beckons to me from inside of the building. “Quick! Look at what Sue has got to show you!” I’m excited - I asked mum to pass on to her staff that I would be coming in today. I assume that Sue must have something interesting to show me. I’m not disappointed. Sue unfolds a beautiful knitted blanket, composed of an array of patterned squares joined together. The blanket is clearly hand-made, with different fabrics sewn together of every colour of the rainbow.

“Wow, most people my age will never know how to make something like this,” I tell her.

Sue informs me that she spends a great deal of her time making these blankets for a charity called Wrap With Love. Betty, one of the Meals on Wheels clients, has helped her to make the blanket that she has brought in today.

“These blankets take about 100 hours of labour time to complete. I spend about $5 a week on wool, and at least 10 hours a day making them,” she tells me.

My jaw hits the floor, “10 hours? But you wouldn’t have time to do anything else.”

“Well,” Sue responds, “I guess I find it very therapeutic. These blankets travel all around the world, they’re given to anyone who needs them.”

I’m whisked away by mum who tells me that I need to go and chat with the “young ones” before they leave to go about their days. Isabel, Sophie and Max are 3 siblings, and Denver is Max’s girlfriend. During COVID, each of their lives have been dialled back in one way or another. One has had their studies postponed; another has lost their shifts. All of them have a great deal more free time. They’re looking forward to seeing Maureen on their delivery today - an elderly client who often gives visitors lemons off her tree. The younger volunteers have stepped up due to a shortage of help during COVID, and are willing to make sacrifices for the safety and well-being of the wider community.

Out of the corner of my eye I glimpse a small silver car pulling up. I’m annoyed at myself once more for forgetting to bring my glasses, as I can’t properly see the person who has just exited it. As the figure in the distance slowly approaches, they shout a familiar “Hello, my dear!” I realise that I am being greeted by Grace, the 92 year old matriarch of Meals on Wheels Lambton. My mum told me that Grace wouldn’t be in when I came to visit, she was told to stay at home just like the others.

“No, no, I’m not worried about the virus my dear. I’ve had a wonderful life, it’s you young people that I’m concerned for,” she says.

Grace starts her round of greeting and checking in with everyone. She’s the archetypal sweet little granny, even choosing to wear her Meals on Wheels volunteer shirt for the occasion.

“Ray, what have you been doing all this time while the pubs have been shut?” she enquires with genuine concern.

“It’s been good, Grace, you have no idea how much money I’ve saved,” Ray replies.

Grace has been volunteering at Meals on Wheels for a total of 54 years. The first manager at Meals was Pat, a dear friend of Grace’s who asked her to get on board after seeing the meals Grace was cooking for the Scouts at the time. Grace tells me about the “old days”, when they used to cook everything themselves and had close to 200 clients on the books.

“So why isn’t Grace the one that’s in charge around here mum?” I ask.

“Well my dear,” Grace begins humbly, “when computers started coming into fashion, that’s when I stepped away.” Grace has been keeping in touch with most of the clients via phone. “Meals on Wheels means everything to them, dear. Most of the clients live alone. Not only that, their doctor is often their next of kin. I think that these are truly the worst times that I’ve lived through. I’ve lived through the depression and the war years, but the difference was that we could all support each other through physical contact. I’m so overwhelmed by the television that I’ve decided to turn it off for quite a while.”

The global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of so many. One of the best things to come out of this difficult period of isolation is a new understanding of the value of essential work. In crisis, it is the essential workers that are looking after us all, helping the community to be healthy and fed. Meals on Wheels is an essential service that provides care and kindness to some of Australia’s most vulnerable. I thank these everyday heroes and am beyond grateful for their work.