Meals on Wheels helpers bring food and love

Kitchen workers begin at 6am to prepare special needs meals

Meals on Wheels Rockhampton kitchen volunteers Alice McConnell, Jean Stewart, Linda Mooney, Cody Radford and Trudy McCaul. Picture: contributed

YOU won't find Meals on Wheels volunteers holding fundraising drives around Rockhampton shopping centres.

They're already too busy preparing meals in the kitchen and driving them out to the elderly.

Their efforts were recognised during a special morning tea last Friday as part of Volunteer Week celebrations around the region.

Alice McConnell has volunteered in the Berskerker St kitchen for a year and a half, in order to keep her mind off her own health issues.

"I had to cut back hours at my 'real job' - not that this isn't real work,” she said.

"Sometimes we go out with the drivers, if they're short an assistant, and our clients' faces light up when we arrive.

"For some of them, we're the only people they see on a regular basis.

"If we can stop and help with some small task such as putting food in the fridge or filling up a water bottle, that's a real bonus.”

Jean Stewart chose Meals on Wheels to satisfy her dole requirements, and she gets a lot of work experience out of it.

"There are special cooks who cater for special need diets such as diverticulitis or food which is vitamised,” she said.

"Then there's salads, hots, desserts, as well as the washing up and wiping down.”

Meals on Wheels Rockhampton has been in operation for 54 years, and is always on the lookout for more assistance.

Volunteer drivers deliver food between 11am and 1pm five days a week.

Kitchen staff work from 6am to 1pm and receive skills training on the job.

The charity organisation is funded by the government and from self-funded retirees' contributions.

Originally published as Meals on Wheels helpers bring food and love