After 45 years, Meals on Wheels will no longer be serving residents of Powell River.
According to the organization’s president, Elaine Cattermole, she wrote to the remaining clients in November advising them of the board of directors’ decision.
There has been a decline in the number of people subscribing to the service over the years. Meals on Wheels used to deliver prepared meals to an average of 35 to 45 people, three times a week. That number has dwindled to 14.
“At one time, we had so many people wanting Meals on Wheels that we actually had to ask for a doctor’s letter to say these people should get it,” said Cattermole. “That had to be about 20 years ago.”
Cattermole said she attributes the decline to a few factors. One of the biggest can be found in the frozen-food section of the local supermarket. When Meals on Wheels started in Powell River 45 years ago, prepared meal selections at the grocery store were limited, she said. Now, there is everything imaginable.
“It’s great that supermarkets have all of these meals available for people who don’t want to cook, or can’t cook,” said Cattermole.
She also said that, because Meals on Wheels food was provided by Sodexo, Powell River General Hospital’s food-service producer, it was not very appetizing.
Another reason to cease operations is that the organization’s executive has reached a point where it would like to step down and pass the torch to some new and younger volunteers, but that search has been unsuccessful.
“It’s very, very hard to give it up, but things do have to come to an end,” said Cattermole, who has been with Meals on Wheels for 26 years. She started out as a driver and leaves with many memories and friendships.
“You have a client that you go to for years and years and they pass away,” she said. “What happens is they usually go into the hospital and we hear they’ve passed away and you think, ‘Gee, I’ve been delivering for 10 years to that person.’ They almost seem like a relative or friend. It’s sad.”
Normally, at this time of year, the group would have a Christmas gathering but, according to Cattermole, their hearts are just not in it after making the decision to stop serving residents.
“We all feel very bad about it,” she said. “We had a meeting at the beginning of November and decided that this was what we had to do.”
Cattermole said she has received a few replies to the letter she wrote to the society’s remaining clients last month.
According to Meals on Wheels coordinator Gay Vella, the loss of the program is also a loss to the volunteers who delivered the meals.
“A lot of them really love this program,” said Vella. “They’ve made real connections with the clients. Some of them have taken them into their homes for Christmas dinner. They go over and above.”
Cattermole said Meals on Wheels would not have survived as long as it has in Powell River if not for the community’s generosity from organizations such as Royal Canadian Legion, Kiwanis and Lions clubs, Catholic Women’s League, Powell River Health-Care Auxiliary and others.
“The only way we could have kept running,” she said, “was the fact that we had all of these organizations and volunteers supporting us all these years.”
