Niagara agencies partner to provide fresh fruit in Lincoln

Meals on Wheels will quickly even be the berry ferry.

Because of a partnership between Group Help Companies of Niagara and Village of Hope, seniors in Lincoln who obtain frozen meals by means of CSSN’s Meals on Wheels program can even be getting a weekly bag of recent fruit and greens. Using their present infrastructure and volunteer companies, the 2 companies teaming up simply made a variety of sense.

“So moderately than us using our drivers who're busy delivering to our households, we wanted one other path to how can we get our meals out to the seniors with out overlapping,” mentioned VOH govt director Cheryl Keddy Scott. “They (CSSN) have already recognized the seniors which can be probably the most susceptible, they usually have already got drivers go there.”

Starting in February, every week as CSSN volunteers ship frozen meals to about 25 older adults in Lincoln, they’ll even be delivering recent produce. VOH volunteers will drop off the fruits and veggies to CSSN, which they obtain by means of group companions like Foodland.

CSSN co-ordinator of volunteers and companies Cheryle Laba mentioned a lot of their purchasers aren’t in a position to get their very own recent produce, and that has solely been exacerbated in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This can be a win-win scenario as a result of our drivers are already delivering to them,” she mentioned.

“The seniors have actually been hit arduous by means of this complete pandemic, being remoted, being extra at excessive danger than anyone else,” Keddy Scott added. “We need to be certain that their well being and security is met, however on the similar time, it comes right down to their complete well-being.”

And since CSSN already has its checklist of purchasers there’s no want for registration, which might generally be a barrier to service.

The packages will range week to week to offer selection for the purchasers. And whereas the COVID-19 restrictions highlighted the necessity for the partnership, Keddy Scott and Laba say they plan to proceed it completely.