Kitchen will help serve hot meals to West Island seniors

A new kitchen means hundreds of more hot Meals on Wheels for seniors on Montreal's West Island.

There is good news for seniors on Montreal’s West Island who need a hot meal delivered to their door.

“Volunteer West Island” has a new central kitchen to cook for their Meals on Wheels program.

Cooking up a storm in the new kitchen, Chef Mark Straughton said the new central kitchen offers a recipe for success.

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “Brand new, sparkling, shiny, everything. It turns on when you want it to turn on. It’s great.”

A year ago the space on Brunswick Boulevard in Dollard-Des Ormeaux was empty.

Then on Tuesday, the non-profit Volunteer West Island opened their new kitchen.

The aim is to serve up 60 more Meals on Wheels each week - with a plan to scale up to 200 meals a week for seniors.

“It’s people that have a loss of autonomy,” said executive director Lynda Barrett. “They might have cognitive difficulties, they might have physical impairments, and they’ve been referred by a health-care professional stipulating that they need a little bit of a helping hand.”

The central kitchen was built beside the West Island Mission Food Bank - creating a hub of help in the area.

“We’ve built the kitchen together, and they’re using it five days a week,” said mission executive director Suzanne Scarrow. “We’re using it two days a week. It’s ideal in terms of food security. It kind of brings it full circle. We’re serving a vulnerable population that’s dealing with poverty, and they’re serving a vulnerable population that can’t get out.”

The two organizations share some costs and resources in order to make every dollar go further.

“Working with them a bit in terms of if they had access,” said kitchen project manager Hilary Jones. “So if the food is donated, it can go in the mission or it can go to meals for seniors.”

Funded by private donors and some public money, the central kitchen will help meet growing needs in the area.

“There’s right now 250 seniors that are not being served, that are waiting for a hot meal and a friendly smile from the volunteer,” said Barrett.