Meals on Wheels drivers have a very important role in the day-to-day operation of the service. Santina Forgione is one member of the team who not only deliver meals to clients, but also provides a safety net and social interaction for people in society that often live alone and need it the most.

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Mrs. Forgione has a passion for her work and is doing it more for the love of helping those in need than for personal financial gain. Santina began as a casual worker and has now developed into a permanent part-time staff member.

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She found out about Meals on Wheels through a friend. “My friend was doing it, and I was looking for a job. And she said ‘I don’t know if you’ll like what I’m doing but they’re looking for people’.”

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“I felt like this job was for me because having the interaction with people and bringing them meals, the satisfaction inside was amazing.”

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Santina holds the view that this service is certainly ‘More Than Just A Meal’. She acknowledges the social aspect of the job and the impact that drivers have on the clients on a daily basis. She explained that they are often the only person who talks to the client on that day.

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“To me it’s very important because once you see these people every day you do get attached and you feel like you know these people very well.”

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“We knock on the door, say ‘Hello’ ‘How are you’, and give a smile.”

 

“They do, they say ‘Oh I’ve been waiting for you’ or ‘It’s nice to see you’ and I can see that they start to talk and ask questions and they want us to stay there a bit longer than were supposed to.”

 

“They are craving for company, and craving for conversation.”

 

Santina has had a scenario in the past where she had to rescue someone who was hurt, stranded and needed help.

 

 “I’ve found someone on the floor, we quickly do something about it, I ring the ambulance. I’ve had a few cases like that.”

 

“One lady was on the floor when I walked in and I said ‘Did you just have a fall?’ She said ‘No I had a fall yesterday around 2 o’clock’. She was on the floor all night until I came to give her a meal.”

 

“She had no family to check on her at night, so lucky I went in and I quickly called the ambulance and she went to hospital and now she is okay.”

 

“To me this is the satisfaction because I am helping someone that needed it.”

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This example shows how Meals on Wheels drivers are trained to monitor and

support clients when they’re in trouble. Without the service the client could

have been stranded for days on end and the results could have been fatal.

 

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Meals on Wheels is not just an organisation that provides and delivers meals.

Santina and her co-workers make sure that this is a personal service, and go a long way towards preventing elderly isolation. Their service means that people who cannot take care of themselves can still remain independent and stay out of aged care facilities.

 

This snapshot of the experiences of one worker epitomises how the service is ‘More Than Just A Meal’. Meals on Wheels helps strengthen communities and lets people live happier and healthier lives.

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By Thomas Beers