A hot meal is something most of us take for granted, but for others, it’s a high luxury.
Whether it’s a matter of affordability or just one’s physical ability to cook for themselves, there’s one service in Sooke that’s been giving an option to its residents for more than 40 years: Meals on Wheels.
Yes, the very same small army of cooks and drivers who go all over Sooke with fresh hot meals for next to nothing.
Now however, the good Meals on Wheels folks are looking for customers, with dishes just ready to go right in the belly.
“We want to reach out to the people who aren’t aware of our service,” said Lorraine Hoy, one of Meals on Wheels coordinators, adding the food is prepped and delivered right to the door for $5.
“What we usually make is a big meal, and many people can divide it up for dinner and for supper,” she said.
The volunteer-run service was first created to aid people with mobility and health issues, mostly elderly, or even individuals who are bedridden due to surgery or miscellaneous condition that limits their physical abilities.
Hoy pointed out Meals on Wheels has no specific reference, however.
“We’re not exclusive to elderly people who get referred, we’re a community service which wants to help our community,” she said.
Every team has a cook, a dessert and soup maker, and everything is homemade out from the kitchen at the Sooke Community Hall. Two sets of drivers go out, divided between seven teams on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
“Some drivers will enter the houses and put it up on the counter, because some people can’t walk very far,” Hoy said, adding that sometimes this is the only visit some of these people will get.
“It can be a very social thing, too.”
Most importantly, it’s the bringing-together of everyone that makes the service worth it.
“There’s such a sense of community within this, we love working together, and when the meals go out, we say, ‘We did it again’”
For more information, please call 250-642-4973.