Raglan resident Geoff Rawley reckons it’s only fair to “do his bit” out in the community – which in his case means he’s just started delivering Meals on Wheels about town once a week.
Every Thursday rain or shine he’s there at the local rest home up on Manukau Rd at 11.30am sharp, getting loaded up from the kitchen where nutritious meals are prepared and packaged daily.
“Seven meals including one cold and two desserts,” calls out the kitchenhand when the Chronicle pays a visit. “And don’t forget it’s D for desserts,” she adds just to ensure this new kid on the block gets the meals right.
Geoff duly loads the meals into his car, checks his task sheet with names and addresses of recipients of the midday meals and heads off around town, delivering to an elderly clientele who mostly live alone but value their independence.
His own mother Betty – born and bred in Raglan, and set to turn 100 on Waitangi Day next year – gets one of these daily meals at her Wainui Rd home.
Geoff’s modest about having volunteered. “It keeps me off the streets,” he laughs. And it’s something he can feel good about.
Longtime Bayview Rd resident Fred Gilbert – who’s due to hit 100 this December – also gets a meal delivered every day around noon. He’s a unique case in that he also delivers the meals around town one day a week, to the elderly of course but all of them younger than him.
Remarkably Fred’s been doing his “bit” now for 40-odd years, ever since joining Raglan’s St John Ambulance service. It was St John which distributed the meals about town back then – before the system changed and Meals on Wheels switched to delivery by hospital boards around the country.
Fred does the deliveries in his own battery-powered Nissan Leaf and reckons it doesn’t take long, only half an hour or so around town.
Raglan Rest Home and Hospital administrator Odette Hulena says that whoever is behind the wheel, the daily visits provide a friendly face and a hot meal that mean a lot to many older folk. “Volunteers bring joy, connection and that real Raglan community spirit to our elders.”
The volunteers in turn get a sense of purpose and wellbeing from time and energy spent on this simple task, she adds. “Giving has a reciprocating effect.”
And it’s not just Meals on Wheels volunteers who selflessly contribute to the smooth running of this rest home and hospital. Many other ‘happy helpers’, as they’re called, take the tea trolley around to residents’ rooms while some come and play cards, do puzzles, arrange flowers and do a myriad of different tasks.
The kindness of volunteers “enriches” residents’ lives in ways that can’t be measured but certainly can be felt, Odette insists.
*Raglan Rest Home and Hospital needs volunteers to support locals. If you can help please contact Odette on 07 825 8306 or email office@raglanhospital.com.
