We continue to offer ‘more than just a meal’

Meals on Wheels Ku-ring-gai and Hornsby is as committed as ever to continuing to deliver tasty, nutritious meals and a wellbeing check to the most vulnerable members of our community. We are seeing an increase in demand for our food service as more older people are staying home to protect themselves during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

We recognise that older people are most at risk of contracting COVID-19, and we are following all advice from the health authorities to ensure we deliver our service in a way that is safe for our clients, volunteers and staff members.

What are we doing to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19?

We are doing all we can to protect our community during this public health emergency. We follow the Best Practice Guidelines issued by the Australian Government Department of Health, and our staff members monitor daily health alerts so they can provide updates to other staff and to our volunteers.

At work, all volunteers and staff adhere to our standard food safety procedures, and follow good hand hygiene and social distancing guidelines. We provide them all with Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves and hand sanitiser. All our volunteers now use sanitiser and change gloves between client home visits and follow social distancing guidelines when delivering meals – they knock on the door, leave meals near the door and speak to the client from a safe distance to ensure they receive their meal. They check in to see how clients are, and offer further help if needed.

We support any office staff who can work from home to do so, and now require all staff to have a flu vaccination, as recommended by the Department of Health.

What can you do to help?

If you are a client and able to come to the door, we will deliver your meal either onto a tray or put it on a chair or table just inside your door. We will take extra precautions if you cannot easily get to the door and need extra help.

What should you do if you are a client and you are unwell?

If you are unwell, have recently come back from overseas, or have been told that you have been in contact with a person known to have the coronavirus, please let us know by calling us in advance. We will arrange for you to receive your meals, while taking some extra precautions to keep our volunteers safe and well.

Where can you get more information?

• 24-hour National Coronavirus Health Information Line – Phone 1800 020 080.
• Australian Government Department of Health – health.gov.au