For almost 40 years Meals on Wheels has provided an invaluable service to the Island’s housebound seniors, delivering hot meals to those in need four times a week.The charity was started in 1975 by two friends Dorothy Evans and Kay Robinson.It was recently recognised by the Department of Health for its contribution to the community.Mrs Evans died almost two years ago.She became aware of the Meals on Wheels programme while living in Canada on a church exchange with her husband, Canon Peter Evans. She returned to the Island and discussed the idea of starting the charity here with Mrs Robinson, who is now in her 90s.Initially the organisation purchased the meals from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and distributed them to five persons in the central parishes.It moved to St Paul’s Christian Education Centre two years later.The Paget facility was home for 18 years. Meals on Wheels purchased land and built their headquarters on South Road, Paget, moving in on September 28, 1996.The charity had reached a high of 225 meals per day by the time of Mrs Evans’ death.These days they provide an average of 170 and rely on more than 200 volunteers to make it all happen.“We need at least 40 of them a day,” said Gladys Madeiros who coordinates the volunteers.Thirty-two people are needed for delivery, seven for cooking and three pot washers.“No more than 20 volunteers do more than once a week,” said Mrs Madeiros who has been with the charity for about 25 years and is a paid part-time worker along with administrator Tannika Rodrigues and food buyer/meal planner Alexa Petty.Mrs Rodrigues has been with the charity for 14 years and Mrs Petty, 21.“I started off as a volunteer and moved to the food buying position five years ago,” said Mrs Petty. “It’s a hot meal, something that they can have when they receive it or save for dinner. They also get a soup, salad and a juice box so there is quite a bit of food given to them.”Meals cost $5.50 about half of what they cost to prepare. There is no charge for those who cannot afford to pay.To offset expenses Meals on Wheel have an annual tag day. They also receive a Government grant and donations from groups and individuals.Interestingly, there has not been an increase in requests for meals during these economic hard times.“Our numbers from three years ago are down,” Mrs Rodrigues said. “We lose a lot of people who go into nursing homes or are deceased. There are also a few more food service providers out there now.”Added Mrs Petty: “We thought of something else the other day, that perhaps with people unemployed these days that perhaps one or more family members are able to be at home to help provide the meals for their parents. It hasn’t increased as much as we thought in these economic times. Their doctor has to refer them and there is a criteria they have to meet. Two hundred and twenty-five was our maximum about two-and-a-half years ago so we have the capability to do more.”On one occasion, a woman was found by a delivery person in a diabetic coma. Fortunately she survived.“That’s why we try to have two persons [on each route], for emergencies like that,” said Mrs Madeiros.“If a person isn’t home or something is wrong it is reported back to a dispatcher here and we follow up on that. It’s not just the meals we provide. Some of them get really attached to the folks.”And it isn’t just the elderly who are served. Mrs Rodrigues recalls delivering food to a guest house for a tourist who had an accident and couldn’t go out and get a meal.Meal preparation begins at 8.30am. By mid-morning things are moving along at a frantic pace. By 1pm the kitchen is quiet again, clean and ready for the next day.“It’s a very efficient system,” said Mrs Petty.Added Mrs Madeiros: “I think God does have his hands in this, definitely. I’ve seen times when we didn’t have a pot washer and somebody would walk in and say ‘I was just passing by and I need something to do, do you have something I can help you with today?’. We have wonderful volunteers.”“There are very few volunteers who come once or twice and say ‘oh, it’s not for me’,” said Mrs Petty. “It’s not a huge time commitment and they feel very useful knowing that someone is getting a meal today because of me. People enjoy that feeling and keep coming back.”For more information call 236-1815.