Lack of Meals on Wheels volunteers in the Sault means meals for seniors are being skipped

A shortage of volunteers means Meals on Wheels has had to skip delivering meals to dozens of seniors in the city.

A shortage of drivers means seniors who rely on Meals on Wheels in Sault Ste. Marie aren’t getting their meals.

The Sault’s Meals on Wheels program runs six routes a day, bringing warm meals to 120 seniors.

But the shortage of volunteers means 45 elderly clients have gone without meals, says program coordinator Cassidy Ryan.

“I went and delivered one route,” Ryan said.

“And then we had two that were not delivered at all.”

On days when they can’t make it out to all clients, there is an option for them to pick up frozen meals.

Ryan said they need around 75 volunteers but are currently making do with 61.

She worries the state of the program will worsen and the number of operational days will be reduced -- or worse – if things don’t get better.

“It’d be a shame if we had to ever lose it because of the fact that we just don’t have enough volunteer drivers,” Ryan said.

The program will sometimes see a boost in volunteers after an incident such as they’ve seen recently, but they often don’t stick around.

“I have seen quite a flex of volunteers coming and going in the last almost four years,” Ryan said.

“Some stay, some don’t. We also have students that come and get their hours and once they get their hours, then we just never see them again … but we’re grateful for them -- and by all means, get your hours.”

Harry Moes has been driving for Meals on Wheels for three years. Ryan said he’s one of their top volunteers, often delivering meals three times a week.

The shifts go from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the latest, but Moes said they usually end early.

“It’s not difficult,” he said.

“It’s usually just a bit more than an hour a day and it’s very satisfying.”

Moes said the schedules are very flexible and volunteers can pick up as many or as few shifts as fits their schedule.

“I met one lady a little while ago whose mother didn’t get food that day because we didn’t have enough volunteers,” he said.

“She wanted to volunteer, but she says, ‘Yeah, I’m not always around.’ I said ‘Well, you can just go on the program as a volunteer and check your email, find out when you’re needed and if you’re available, offer to fill in.”

Ryan said she accepts whatever volunteers she can give her, but ideally would like to find reliable help.

‘Any little bit helps’

“We definitely can use people who are wanting to kind of help for the long run -- whether that’s weekly, biweekly, casual, any little bit helps,” she said.

Volunteers regularly form strong bonds with the seniors they visit, Ryan added.

Five-year volunteer Barb French said she’s made friends with both clients and her fellow volunteers.

French said her decision to volunteer alongside her husband was planned long ago, when they got the service for her mother.

“As my mom was getting older, she really didn’t want to move into a nursing home, and, you know, she wanted to keep her own place,” she said.

“So we heard about Meals on Wheels, and she registered for it. And it was just such a peace of mind for us.”

Ryan said the area of strongest need is the Sault’s west end. The program has at least a dozen people on its waitlist that they can’t get to because of the lack of volunteers.

More information on the program, as well as instructions on signing up to be a volunteer, can be found on the FJ Davey Home website, under Meals on Wheels.