Hunt for volunteers is on as Quebec’s meals on wheels week celebrates 20 years in the province
Posted March 24, 2025 9:57 pm.
Last Updated March 24, 2025 10:09 pm.
It’s the 20th edition of Meals on Wheels Week from the Regroupement des Popotes Roulantes du Quebec. Until March 29, the group is celebrating and raising awareness for the important role of home-delivered meal programs in the community, especially for seniors and those with limited mobility.
“To have a healthy meal every day is paramount. And another very important aspect is the fact that when you go and see a client, you’re breaking that social isolation. Like older people often, they don’t have a lot of activities or they don’t see a lot of people in their lives. And it’s very nice to just have that contact with the outside world,” said Chris Kennedy, a volunteer.
Kennedy has been receiving meals for over 20 years following a car accident that resulted in the loss of use of his legs. For the past 15 years, he has chosen to give back by volunteering.
“So I usually pair with a person and we go deliver to one of the routes. There’s about five different routes all around downtown. So we’ll go, I’ll carry the bag on the back of my wheelchair and we’ll go do a delivery.”
Last year, over 20,548 volunteers helped to serve 4,870,000 meals meals to 129,000 recipients in Quebec. The demand has increased by 7 per cent, and the Executive Director of Québec Meals on Wheels Karine Robinette anticipates this trend will continue in the coming years with one in four people expected to be elderly by 2030.
“It’s been growing a lot. A lot more people are asking for the service, the Meals on Wheels services. So we need more volunteers in every organization,” said Robinette.
“If you have a bit of time, if you want to make a difference in the life of a lot of elders, well, there you go. You can call the Meals on Wheels community and give a little bit of your time.”
John Fridman, a kitchen coordinator added, “I, coming from a background of like really high-end kitchens, I would say more than anything, I like the communal spirit. I like the intergenerational component. I like working with my kindergarten French teacher and my childhood babysitter and everything in between, students, elders, like just the, being able to connect all these generations together and their experiences and share in kind of one common task that we have together.”
