Cape Breton seniors club delivers thousands of meals after Fiona

A Cape Breton seniors club shifted into high gear to make and deliver thousands of meals in the wake of post-tropical storm Fiona, thanks to emergency funding from the Nova Scotia government.

But the group is still struggling to meet the needs of seniors on a weekly basis after the province cut its regular funding earlier this year.

"We try to make sure that we get a bite to eat to anybody that's in need, but it's very difficult today to do that because of the fact that the need is so great," said Mel Bryden, president of the Reserve Mines Seniors and Pensioners Club.

"Seniors are suffering like you would not believe."

The club makes and delivers 500 healthy meals a week, but it could easily provide more — as it proved by churning out 14,000 meals in nine days after the September storm.

The meals were delivered to all seniors homes in Reserve and Glace Bay, plus all the warming centres for people without power, Bryden said.

"We found out that the seniors complexes had no power, the area was just disastrous, as we all know," he said.

"So I called my team together and within an hour I had 36 volunteers here. It made us feel so good, knowing that we were helping people and before you know it ... we were doing 800 dinners a day and 800 suppers a day, so 1,600 meals a day for over nine days."

Limited funds

After the emergency funding ran out, the club members went back to producing and delivering 500 meals a week. They are limited by the amount of money they can raise through hall rentals, the bar and darts tournaments.

The club does what it can for people who are terminally ill, people with disabilities and those with low income.

But it cannot keep up with the actual demand, said Bryden.

"We have … hundreds and hundreds of people wanting to get on this particular list," he said.

Pandemic restrictions intensified people's feelings of loneliness and isolation, Bryden said, but those are always present, especially for people who are older and living alone.

The club president said he was never told why the province cut the group's funding, but he is hopeful it will return.

In addition to delivering meals and bringing seniors a friendly face, club volunteers also call around on a regular basis to check in on people and make sure they have everything they need.

Bryden said volunteers have also found seniors in medical distress and called 911, likely saving lives. But people in need don't have to live within the Reserve Mines catchment area to get help.

Friendly Calls program

The Maritime office of the Canadian Red Cross has also found that people were feeling more lonely during the pandemic and has revived its Friendly Calls program that matches volunteers with people needing to hear a kind voice.

"It is a program that we offer in English and in French and it's really a great way to form connections and have a way for people to know that somebody cares about them and their overall wellbeing," said community health co-ordinator Diane Tait.

Some of the volunteers have been really creative in their connections, she said.

"We heard of one pairing, for instance, they were both into poetry, so they would write poetry and share it at their next call, or they're finding recipes and making them in between the calls and sharing about it together at their next call," Tait said.

 "It's really kind of heartwarming to hear back from participants about the impact the calls are having on them, that it's really a highlight of their week, that it's making a big difference for them. In some instances we've heard that it's the only phone call that they would receive in a week."

The program was so successful, it is now available across the country.

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