Welcome to another chilly New England winter. My goodness it has been a hectic few months here – I hope this newsletter can cover all the activities that have been happening for us all!
Firstly, thank you so much to everyone for adjusting our delivery routine to allow for social distancing and ‘no-contact’ deliveries. We are so lucky that we have been able to continue our service without any hiccups throughout autumn. We ask that our volunteers continue to please use hand sanitiser.
Secondly, a big WELCOME to all of our new volunteers and also to a large number of new and returning clients who are taking advantage of our service to help maintain healthy eating at home.
We have mentioned on the front page how many generous donations we have received but I thought I should let you all know that we are part of a network of Community organisations in Armidale & Uralla and as such, when we have any extra products that we cannot use, we share it. Some spare food items gifted to us have been passed on to the Women’s Shelter and also to Freeman House. We have donated some meals to a couple of people in dire circumstances at the request of Armidale Family Support Services. It’s nice to be able to share some positive news stories and to let you know how we all work together to support all kinds of vulnerable people in your community.
Clients now have the opportunity to purchase bread weekly. We were approached by the locally owned Bakers Delight franchise to offer this service. This is another example of local businesses supporting each other during difficult times. If you missed putting in a weekly bread order, please contact the office.
The federal Department of Health which provides our funding each year, has released additional funding for Meals on Wheels services to access because of the amount of extra expenses we have had throughout this period – in particular for wages and cleaning consumables. This additional funding can also be used for upgrading equipment and we are going to take the opportunity to put some long-term strategies in place that will form part of our daily routines into the future. The first upgrade that people will notice as they visit our office is that the front door is now automated and will open and close for you – hands-free! It’s a very exciting improvement providing easy access to our building for all our visitors.
Kerryn Williams, Manager