HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-01-26, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2000.
TCSS volunteers bring food, conversation to clients
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
One well-balanced meal a day can
mean the difference between sustain
ing health and independence and
requiring regular nursing care.
For many seniors, that meal
arrives at the door, brought by vol
unteers for Town and Country
Support Services (TCSS).
As a resident of Highland
Apartment, Huronlea, in Brussels,
Laura Barchard likes the conven
ience of the frozen meals. They
allow her to stay in her apartment if
she prefers, rather than par
taking in the meals offered by
Huronlea.
Dealing with occasional stomach
problems, Barchard says she can
choose what to eat and save the rest
of the meal for another time.
“They are very handy to have.”
Having used the frozen Meals on
Wheels for about a year, Barchard
says the food is quite good.
A very new user and one of the
younger clients of the program,
Mary Ann Howson of Blyth says the
convenience of the frozen meals is
helping her through a difficult med
ical time.
Dealing with a weight loss,
Howson says her dietician at Clinton
Public Hospital recommended she
try the program to ensure she get a
proper meal each day.
“When you are alone, you don’t
always eat right,” she says. Each
dinner contains vegetables which
Howson says she probably would
not cook for herself. For her, this
program guarantees she is getting
what she needs for her meals,
Having just started on the program
two weeks ago, Howson says the
meals are “excellent, very tasty. The
carrots taste like carrots.”
Aside from the nutritional benefit,
Howson says the frozen meals save
her money at the grocery store as she
can get 14 meals for $50. “It works
out well.”
For Bill Turnbull of Brussels, hav
ing the meals delivered to his door is
helping him stay in his home and
have good meals each day.
“I have been using it since the
home care girls told me about it two
years ago. It is a great service
because I am no cook. The propor
tions are good, it is good food and I
never get a stomach upset. It is not
institutional food. It is like home
cooking.”
Turnbull says he appreciates the
variety of meal choices because
being an “old farm boy”, he likes the
meat and potatoes with lots of gravy.
His use of the program even
extends to visitors in his home. He
has on occasion used the frozen din
ners for guests invited for a meal.
Tumbull also appreciates the vol
unteer who delivers his meals every
two weeks and places them in the
freezer for him.
Two of the TCSS volunteers who
take the time to contribute both to
their community and the lives of the
seniors they visit are Julian
Paziewski and Clarence Walker.
(Jason and Joan McCallum volunteer
as well.)
Having lived in the Wingham area
for about 10 years, Paziewski decid
ed six years ago it was time to “put
something back”.
When he stopped by the Victoria
Street office of TCSS, he asked the
receptionist if they needed any help.
He was just in time for the move to
TCSS’s current location and he has
been with them ever since.
For the first two or three years.
Paziewski looked after inside and
outside maintenance and then began
to deliver the frozen meals.
“I enjoy the fact that it helps (the
seniors ) out, not just the food, but it
helps them stay in their homes.”
“It gives me a good feeling,” he
says. “Sometimes I stay two or three
minutes, sometimes 10. Sometimes
they are lonely and they just need
someone to talk to.”
“They benefit from words of
encouragement or simply being
asked how they are doing,” he adds.
“We don’t just drop and run. We
spend a little time.”
Paziewski takes pride in doing a
little extra for the clients. “I help as
much as possible with little practical
things like putting the dinners right
in the freezer (because it may be
hard for them to get up out of the
chair).”
Pointing out his pleasure in getting
to know the clients, having always
made friends easily with those older
than he, Paziewski says there is one
sad thing about the job.
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282 Suncoast Drive, Goderich
(519) 524-2020 1-800-265-5500
On the go
Volunteer drivers Julian Paziewski and Clarence Walker
head out to deliver frozen meals to seniors around the
region.
“February” is
vitamin bottle
bonus month.
“When your clients are older, they
may pass away.”
Walker agrees this is a difficult
aspect of delivering meals as you
may have just seen the person a few
days previously and then they are
gone.
For Walker, who has been
involved in TCSS since 1996, partic
ipation gives people a “feeling of
self-worth.”
After losing his job to plant clo
sure, Walker says working with
TCSS as well as the Salvation Army
kept him going.
“After sitting for a year, I asked
about helping. People must be will
ing to put back into the community.
It can be very rewarding if you put
yourself into it.”
WMker says the clients, volunteers
and TCSS staff become like one
“giant family”.
Susan Armstrong, community sup
port co-ordinator with TCSS, says
Town and Country just co-ordinates
the program. “The volunteers are our
fingers. They are the front line work
ers.”
All volunteers are screened before
they begin delivering meals. “There
is a police check and interview,” she
says. “These people come highly
recommended.”
Though clients do get to know the
drivers, each wears an identification
tag with name and picture.
Armstrong says the meals are
ordered bi-weekly, with a minimum
order of seven items. (There are
combinations of entrees, soups and
desserts.) An order of seven cost
$25.
Several clients will order 14
entrees each time, she says.
However, the orders vary depending
on appetite and mobility. The hot
Meals on Wheels program is also a
favourite though only available in
some areas.
The frozen meals are suitable for
the oven or a microwave and cook
ing instructions are included.
Specialty meals and pureed foods are
available.
As attested to by the clients, the
frozen dinners are just like home
cooking and with the wide variety of
choices, there is sure to be some
thing for every palate.
The standard entrees range from
chicken a la King to creamed salmon
(a favourite), lasagna, meatballs and
noodles, a variety of fish, numerous
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Blyth Apothecary
Queen St., Blyth 523-4210
beef dishes, pork and ham. There are
25 from which to choose.
The 13 soups include beef barley,
minestrone, chicken gumbo and cau
liflower cheddar.
To finish off a meal, clients can
select from 17 desserts including
fruit cocktail, peach cobbler, cakes,
tarts, cheesecake and pudding.
There are seven vegetarian meals
and two cold salad plates. For those
requiring purged meals, there are 16
entrees, six soups and five desserts.
Proportions, these clients say, are
excellent.
Armstrong say the meals are so
popular even staff at the TCSS office
buy them for their lunches.
For those looking for something
different for an elderly relative,
TCSS provides gift certificates for
the frozen meal program.
Walker and Paziewski agree that
driving for the Meals on Wheels pro
gram is a worthwhile endeavour.
“We all may need the service
someday,” say Paziewski.
Anyone interested in the frozen
Meals on Wheels program can call
TCSS offices in Wingham at 357-
3222, Clinton at 482-9264 or Exeter
at 235-0258.
with:
■ Home Oxygen
■ Wheelchairs
■ Electric Scooters
■ Hospital Beds
■ Bathroom Equipment
■ Electric Reclining
Lift Chairs
Your empty vitamin
bottle equals
$1.00 off
your next
vitamin
purchase valued
over $3.00