Meals on Wheels, will it survive?

[davidc4430]

Meals on Wheels surviving on bequests from deceased clients as funding stagnates: volunteer

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-12/meals-on-wheels-struggling-financially/11299636

i dont think they can unless they can compete with the likes of Light and Easy.

i had MOW for quite a few years but was convinced to try L&E by a relative.

the difference was chalk and cheese.

MOW meals were bland with no choice on what i got.

L&E has a large selection and i can choose my meals weekly (i do it it fortnightly)

i can swap n change as i please.

i guess its sad a iconic brand like meals on wheels cant compete but things change.

[davidc4430]

you must question why cant they compete?

they run on volunteers and get govt handouts.

the meals are not free, the difference between MOW and L&E is about $45 a fortnight for me.

i'm sure L&E must pay its workers the going rate.

[viewmont1071]

My cousin has been delivering MOW for 25 years. It's not only the food, for some it is the only personal interaction they have with the

outside world. In rural areas L&E is not an option. 

https://lifetimeconnect.org.au/volunteers/volunteer-of-the-month/

[joztamps]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

you must question why cant they compete?

they run on volunteers and get govt handouts.

the meals are not free, the difference between MOW and L&E is about $45 a fortnight for me.

i'm sure L&E must pay its workers the going rate.

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I used to get MOW for my mum when I was caring for her (I figured she would live longer if she didn't have the dangers of my cooking added to her other health burdens).

One day one of the elderly volunteer delivery ladies came to the front door with it.

When I opened the door, she was in tears.

I asked her what was wrong, and she said the council had contracted out the service to a commercial operator (who did some local hospitals), and that morning all the volunteers had been told they were "no longer required", effective as of that very day.

Some of them, including her, had been founders of the volunteer service some 25 or 30 years earlier.

So it depends upon the local arrangements, but they are not all volunteer services, some are operated commercially.

[springyzone]

When my parents were alive, I think they tried meals on wheels, but almost immediately stopped as they didn't like the food at all. After that, my brother bought them a few meals-forget what company, but they were frozen meals that were delivered. Not that cheap either but at least there was a choice.

I think with so many people with allergies and also personal preferences, there has to be a choice these days.

I suspect some of it is a change in attitude. You only have to look at eg catering at weddings in the past where maybe there were 2 meals that alternated and people accepted what they were given.

These days, every invitation carries a spot to list food no-no's. When my son married, every second person put something on there. Most of those people had no allergy. My son didn't mind people with allergies writing something but was amazed at how many people put down a list of what they disliked eg "don't want beef, fish" etc

So I think these days there is a sense of entitlement to more choice that  maybe wasn't there in the past. And when you consider that people are paying for the meals, that is fair enough.