Meals on Wheels

Seniors and shut-ins had a celebrity waiter deliver their lunch on a chilly Thursday morning.

Mayor Keith Hobbs joined a group of Meals on Wheels volunteers, dropping off a piping hot plate of meat and potatoes and a tasty dessert.

It’s the third time the mayor has taken part in the annual event, and it’s worth every second of his time, he said.

“It’s a great program. It’s helping people who are shut in and can’t, in some cases, cook their own meals,” Hobbs said.

“It’s also promoting volunteerism. Volunteerism is alive and well in Thunder Bay in a large, large scale. This community is so giving.”

Hobbs said he derives plenty of joy from walking up to someone’s door and handing them a nutritious meal, knowing the Meals on Wheels program has made their day a little brighter.

“It’s the smiles on their faces and they’re getting nutrition,” Hobbs said. “A lot of them are seniors or have a disability that prevents them from cooking their own meals. It’s a great way to interact with our seniors.

“I even met some people who aren’t seniors, but through some unfortunate circumstance can’t feed themselves. This is an unreal program.”

Funded partially by the city, but mainly through the Northwest Local Health Integration Network, clients do pay a portion of the cost to have their daily meal delivered.

Heather Theriault, the supervisor of the city’s Meals on Wheels Program, said Mayors for Meals is a great event and a lot of fun for everyone involved.

“A lot of our clients are extremely excited,” Theriault said.

The program itself is a lifesaver for many.

“Basically we’re here to provide a nutritious, hot meal right to your door for our seniors,” Theriault said. “It’s just a way to allow them to remain more independent within their own home. It helps them just a little bit, and kind of relieves that stress of having to prepare meals for themselves.”

On average, the organization, which delivers meals from four retirement homes in Thunder Bay, serves about 200 clients a day.

Over the course of a year, that translates into about 42,000 meals.