Community Heroes - SVP Meals on Wheels

Community 3 min read

01 May 2020

Community Rallies Behind Tralee Charity to Help Deliver 1,300 Meals a Week

In the kitchen of Ballyseedy House and Gardens in Tralee, chefs are hard at work. A sea of black trays are laid out before them and inside nutritious Sunday dinners, waiting to adorn the doorsteps of the isolated, of the alone. The family-run garden centre had to shut its doors due to COVID-19, but the family have offered their facilities free of charge to a charity who have been making national headlines in recent weeks.

Just three weeks ago, Meals on Wheels in Tralee Co. Kerry operated one day a week from their base in Ozanham House, to deliver 70 dinners to the elderly and disabled. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 the St. Vincent De Paul charity now operates seven days and have expanded their workforce to deliver 1,300 weekly meals.

Paddy Kevane, president of the organisation in Tralee, said once the pandemic hit, they began to get an influx of calls from the elderly asking for help. Initially they increased working hours to three days but found that wasn’t enough to meet demand.

 ‘A lot of people assume in Ireland, that there’s a big family to look after the elderly and the vulnerable – cousins, uncles, relatives - that there will always be someone there... but, some people genuinely have no one left, everyone they knew is gone. Every Christmas, we serve about 200 hot meals to these people in the Dominican Church in Tralee – for them, it’s about being with other people, about not being alone at Christmas.’

‘With the pandemic, we’ve seen cocooning, elderly people who live remotely, who can’t get out to get food. Their family could be outside the distance restriction zones and can’t get to them. Or maybe their family have emigrated and can’t get home to Ireland. Calls began to flood in. It just exploded – we realised we needed to act fast, to make sure we could feed these people. We now have a supply chain running – from the chefs, to the packers, the delivery men – all volunteers.’
 

Community Response

When local businesses and people from the community heard help was needed, they responded. The small kitchen in the charity’s original premises wasn’t equipped to produce the now large levels of meals required, so a local garden centre stepped in and offered their facilities.

‘Ballyseedy House have been instrumental in helping us. We’ve been using their kitchens daily, which has everything we need. Importantly we need space, to ensure strict social distancing for the volunteers. The family themselves have been hands on, working with us getting the meals out.’

Other businesses and charities have donated what they can; including Tesco, Cara Credit Union, the Red Cross, Dillon Waste, Tralee IT, Cliffords Cash and Carry and many more, while individuals have volunteered their skills, most notably chefs from local hotels.

‘When the hotels in the area shut, many of chefs were out of work. We now have a rota of chefs working every day, cooking the meals. We also have up to 15 drivers helping with delivery, and many volunteers helping to pack and process. We have up to 25-30 helping us at the moment.’
 

A Human Touch

The nourishing, hot food is not the only thing that warms the heart – with so many of those isolating also suffering from loneliness, the volunteers have been trying to add a little bit extra to the bags.

‘A mother and daughter team handmade three-hundred Easter cards with handwritten messages of support - imagine how long that took them… a local bakery baked buns and over Easter we had Easter eggs in every bag,’ said Paddy.

‘A local newspapers also provided copies for us with a guide on how those cocooning can exercise at home. I think it’s just a small touch, a gesture to show we care, that they’re not alone out there.’
 

How to Help

Paddy thinks that their expanded service will be needed into the future, as ‘normality’ will not be the same as we, and the elderly within our society, know it. He hopes the charity can maintain their increased level of service and support, for as long as those vulnerable need it.

As Meals on Wheels Tralee need to cover costs such as the food as well as the hygiene equipment for staff, they are always grateful for donations – you can donate on their Go Fund Me Page here. 

The Tralee charity are currently covering Tralee Town, Killarney, Blennerville, Ardfert, Fenit and parts of north Kerry.  If you, or a family member or friend in these areas are in need of the service, you can get in touch by calling (066) 712 801 or 0860234706.