The temporary "retiring" of all Meals on Wheels (MoW) Dubbo volunteers as of Wednesday has been accompanied by an assurance that elderly and disabled clients will continue to be fed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
MoW Dubbo president Garry Brown this week declared meals would "absolutely" get to clients, albeit in the hands of staff.
READ ALSO:
Only last week MoW Dubbo service manager Peter English revealed increased offers to help deliver meals after long-standing volunteers asked for time off because of the coronavirus.
The federal government is advising people over the age of 70 to stay home.
"The majority of our volunteers are in that vulnerable age group of over 70," Mr Brown said.
"We needed to retire our volunteers temporarily so they can take a rest and stay safe at home."
The president said staff had been consulted during the decision-making and he was confident they would step up.
Mr Brown advised clients to call if their needs changed as opposed to visiting the MoW office which has closed.
Currently, MoW Dubbo has six full-time and three casual employees, with five of them set to deliver meals five days a week.
"We did 93 hot meals on Monday with numbers climbing every day," Mr English said.
The service manager said staff would eliver he meals and "keep any eye on clients to make sure they are holding up okay".
"This could be a long siege," he said.
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
