Since March 2020, Newfoundland's Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation has run a meals-on-wheels program for seniors and residents who are self-isolating.
The program helps Norris Point, where residents often drive over 100 kilometres for groceries, and the elderly are vulnerable to food insecurity.
Pre-pandemic, the old Cottage Hospital ran a community kitchen program with free cooking classes. As COVID19 worsened, funding for cooking classes was repurposed for meals-on-wheels.
Scholars highlight how the organization's response to COVID19 holds valuable lessons for Canada's rural and remote regions. Its ability to provide free, high-quality meals rests on strong volunteer and business networks from before, and a management that adapted quickly to COVID19. The old hospital provides a physical space for local activities and is meaningful to the residents, who actively reinvest in their own community.
Resilience is built on the social and physical skills of rural communities.
Original article:
Local meals-on-wheels program helps rural seniors cope with COVID-19 isolation