Free this summer? Meals on Wheels needs help to get food to the most vulnerable - Action News
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Toronto

Free this summer? Meals on Wheels needs help to get food to the most vulnerable

WoodGreen Community Services says it is desperately looking for volunteers to help deliver food for its Meals on Wheels program. The organization only has about 30 volunteers right now, but typically needs 80.

WoodGreen Meals on Wheels says it has about 60% fewer volunteers than pre-pandemic

A gray mini van is parked with the words
The Meals on Wheels program at WoodGreen Community Services is desperately looking for volunteers. The organization says without more volunteers soon, many people who rely on the program will go hungry. (Kirthana Sasitharan/CBC)

Garnet Ward has been delivering food with WoodGreen Community Service's Meals on Wheels program for eight years, but lately, his routes have gotten longer.

"I used to have routesthat were normally 10 deliveries, 12 deliveries, and then it got up to 21 for a little while and they managed to cut it back to 16. Today I think I'm at 18 or 19," said Ward.

"It's hard to keep the meals hot to the end of the route when there's that many deliveries to make."

Those longer routes are a result of volunteer shortages facingthe organization. Normally the WoodGreen's Meals on Wheels program needs about 80 volunteers for a full weekright now, it has30.

Adriano Murarotto, the Director of Senior Programs at WoodGreen, says he worries the lack of volunteers, in addition to the surge in demand, will lead to a slowdown in services and more people being wait-listed.

"Our fear is that there will be more people going hungry that won't be serviced," he said.

Garnet wears a dark green shirt with a light green lanyard. He stands in front of his red car filled with meals to be delivered.
Garnet Ward has been volunteering with Meals on Wheels for eight years now. He says his routes have gotten longer as a result of a volunteer shortage. (Paul Borkwood/CBC)

Fewer volunteers after return to office

Murarotto says the number of volunteers dropped after people whopredominantly worked from home during the pandemic went back to the office. As a result, they've had to supplement deliveries with paid staff at times, which can become costly.

"Meals on Wheels isa volunteer model and that's how it's been since post World War II. And so it's always relied on a roster of volunteers, a community of volunteers and it's unnaturally been changed to an employee model just to make up for the the empty routes," he said.

With summer vacation coming up, Murarotto saysthe situation will only get worse.

"Withthe current economic situation, there's many people in the community who just can't afford takeout anymore. They can't afford other meal services that are privatized," Murarotto said.

Murarotto says more funding for the program would help them greatly from addressing the cost of food to paying people at times to help make deliveries.

CBC Toronto reached out to the Ministry of Health who funds Meals on Wheels Programs across the province. A spokesperson for the Minister of Health told CBC Toronto in a statement that they are"accelerating investments to bring funding in 202324 up to $569 million, including nearly $300 million to support contract rate increases to stabilize the home and community care workforce, including immediate funding to help support community programs like Meals on Wheels."

'More than just a meal'

Dennis Graham, 71, has been a client with Meals on Wheels for 27 years. He says the volunteers have played a big role in keeping him alive.

"They keep an eye out for me, I have acondition," Graham said. "There's more people that need to get in touch with Meals on Wheels."

"There's a few people in this building that need Meals on Wheels, they're starving."

Adriano Murarotto wears a white t-shirt and a grey blazer and a green lanyard. He is smiling while standing on the sidewalk.
Adriano Murarotto, the Director of Senior Programs at WoodGreen, says the organization is running at about 60% fewer volunteers than before the pandemic. He says while there was a shortage of volunteers during the pandemic too, the situation has gotten worse. (Paul Borkwood/CBC)

Murarottosaysthe demand for meals and volunteers isprovincewide. Meals on Wheels services 125 agencies across the province, and serves approximately 3.5 million meals a year. At WoodGreen, the organization delivers about 1250 meals per week.

Murarottosaysthere's many ways people can get involved with volunteering.

"Typically the shift will be from 10:30 a.m. till 12:30 p.m.," he said. Depending on a volunteer's availability, they could help out one day a week or even one day a month.

Murarottosays WoodGreen provides job training, and volunteers just need to know how to navigate the streets to find addresses, then returnwith updates on the clients.

"It's more than just a meal... We also ask for an update on each of the clients," he said. "How are they doing? If there's any services that we can provide from housing to social supports," he said.

"The volunteers just offer more than just a delivery service and that's the unique value of a community service."