In addition to the services offered by Lennoxville and District Community Aid that were mentioned in Wednesday’s Record, the organizations offering meals on wheels services in the Sherbrooke and Richmond areas are also going ahead, with some adjustments to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus.
“(Volunteers) need to leave a box or something outside of the door,” said Marie-Josée Voisine, who helps to coordinate the project in Richmond. “We will knock and then we will leave. These are our special measures.”
Deliveries will continue to be at around noon hour from Monday to Friday. If there are individuals in the area who wish to take advantage as to what Meals on Wheels offers, the popote roulante de Richmond can be reached at 819 826-6166 for more information.
Sercovie, the organization that offers the Meals on Wheels service to residents of Sherbrooke, has also taken similar measures.
“We are offering a more secure service with the virus,” said Sercovie Executive Director Rémi Demers. “We have a non-contact measure with the clients. There is absolutely no direct contact. The meal will be left outside the door and the volunteer will not go into the residence. Our clients are all informed of this practice and they are in agreement with it.”
Meals are also usually offered at Sercovie’s cafeteria, but this is now closed to the public along with their activities centre.
With many of their volunteers aged 70 and over, Sercovie is not pressuring those that are healthy to continue to work with meals on wheels and is working in partnership with other organizations to mobilize more volunteers.
“We need to be aware of the people at risk,” explained Demers. “These are the measures we put in place.”
Despite these complications, Demers described Meals on Wheels as being an “essential service,” especially at a time like this.
Sercovie delivers around 2,500 hot meals minimum every week and between 500 to 1,000 frozen meals every week; something they have been promoting with the challenges of the coronavirus. “We have been doing a lot of promoting for the frozen meals,” emphasized Demers. “People can by these meals for the evening and it limits their time going to the grocery store.”
To help brighten up people’s days, clients of Sercovie will be receiving a special treat in the form of a traditional sugar-shack meal today. About 600 of these meals will be delivered around Sherbrooke.
Demers also wanted to add that with Sercovie’s activities centre closed to the public, there is a way for people to remain active while stuck at home. “We invite them to consult our online exercise platform Move50+. It’s free and there are 30 exercise capsules to explore to keep people moving at home.”
For more information, visit https://sercovie.org/.
Meals on Wheels will continue for Sherbrooke and Richmond
By Taylor McClure, Special to The Record
