In these difficult times, it is wonderful to hear the spirit of helping out remains strong in Mount Isa.
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This week Hertz Mount Isa combined with Pickerings Mount Isa and the Rotary Club of Mount Isa South West Inc to provide the 'Mount Isa Meals on Wheels' community service with a Suzuki Vitara vehicle for one to two years.
Meals on Wheels is a community service which delivers freshly prepared healthy meals to people living at home.
Part funded by government, the freshly cooked and prepared healthy meals are delivered by volunteers in their own cars directly to the client's home.
Mount Isa Meals on Wheels secretary Bob Bentley said the new car would be used for multiple purposes including banking, picked up their groceries and delivering to clients.
Hertz Mount Isa purchased the vehicle and will pay for insurance and registration, Pickerings will do free servicing while the Rotary Club of Mount Isa South West Inc will pay for fuel costs.
Alison Dowling of Hertz Mount Isa said she and her husband Terry Dowling,who run the local franchise, Isa became aware of the need to provide support for the Mount Isa Meals on Wheels program through personal experience.
"For example, in England, where government took over the operating of most community operated Meals on Wheels services, the community volunteer drivers and deliverers no longer felt engaged, so the whole service collapsed, leaving those most in need of the service - older people and people with a disability -vulnerable to starvation," Ms Dowling said.
"However, here in Mount Isa Meals on Wheels continues to operate as a community engaged service with a team of volunteer drivers and volunteer delivery staff."
Ms Dowling said they had the feedback of a neighbour who thoroughly appreciated the benefit of receiving regular freshly cooked meals delivered right to his doorstep, along with the regular delivery and driver contact.
"Friends who are retirees find that they discover new purpose and friendship networks through their volunteering with Meals on Wheels for a couple of hours a week," she said.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
