Ryan Miller at the 23 Days of Christmas launch on Monday, Dec. 2 (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Meals on Wheels’ 23 Days of Christmas campaign begins

Dec 2, 2019 | 12:31 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Throughout the month of December, over 2,000 meals are delivered across the community by Meals on Wheels.

Year-round, the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization (LSCO) delivers hot meals to people who are isolated and cannot make a meal or obtain a meal themselves.

“It’s [Meals on Wheels] a way for people that are isolated and really need someone to bring them a meal – like literally – these people can’t cook for themselves and they can’t get out. A lot of them have to get their groceries brought in,” said Rob Miyashiro, Executive Director of the LSCO.

“A lot of them, other than our meal, they don’t [prepare] a hot meal. They might [eat] canned soup, they might do toast and jam or peanut butter, but most of these people cannot cook.”

On average, LSCO delivers for 23 days in December.

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Monday morning marked a special occasion for LSCO and local partners Select People Solutions, Teamworks Career Centre, Teamworks Training Institute, Cupper’s Coffee and Tea, Urban Grocer and Italian Table. The 11^th annual 23 Days of Christmas campaign was officially launched.

The campaign has partnering businesses each sponsor a day during the 23-day period to help raise funds for Meals on Wheels.

“It’s exciting this year to go ahead and have the program expand, so to have The Italian Table come aboard and join our Christmas card campaign with Urban Grocer and Cupper’s has been a great [and] tremendous addition. I think it’ll add a whole new flavour to our campaign,” said Ryan Miller, President and CEO of Teamwork Training Ltd.

“The Meals on Wheels organization does a fantastic job all year-round helping people, seniors and other people that have needs, to be able to have a hot meal and stay in their homes and keep their independence. This time of year is just a fun time to celebrate using the Christmas season and the month of December to bring attention to that and focus in raising some dollars to keep that organization vibrant throughout the whole year.”

Miyashiro added that another benefit to the program is that it puts some eyes and ears out in the community in support of isolated seniors.

“Our volunteers and my staff are prepared to go and meet with the people and talk to them about what their needs are and make sure that they’re getting all the resources that they require,” he said.

“There have been times when we’ve actually had to get our Meals on Wheels customers to move out of their homes – they just can’t do it [live on their own]. I have social workers at my work, and we are able to get in there and talk to the people to make sure they have what they need to live there safely.”

Miyashiro at Monday’s campaign launch (Lethbridge News Now)

Miyashiro said the 23 Days of Christmas campaign has made a huge impact on their operation through the years, allowing them to avoid raising their meal prices.

“Our price per meal is the same now as it was six years ago, which is really amazing given [price fluctuation] with food,” he commented.

“This fundraising every year allows us to keep those prices down, allows us to still maintain quality food. That means we don’t have to change portions, we don’t have to change quality, [clients are] given the same meal that they had, and this subsidizes that price for people.”

The partnership between the Meals on Wheels program and Miller’s Teamwork Training began when Teamwork interviewed different organizations to see how they could help out in the community.

“Our very first interview was with the Meals on Wheels organization and they were on the verge of shutting down. They couldn’t financially operate further…and that was right there, a connection to say we had to do something to keep this organization going,” Miller said.

Over the past 10 years, the 23 Days of Christmas campaign has been able to raise $200,000 for Meals on Wheels. More details on the program can be found at mealsonwheelslethbridge.ca.