Call for volunteers to roll up to Albany meals service to help locals in need

Albany’s meals on wheels service is in desperate need of volunteer drivers to deliver meals and check in on locals in need.

Chorus Albany Meals on Wheels delivers more than 400 meals a week to vulnerable locals, but say they are caught in a Statewide plunge in volunteer numbers since the onset of the pandemic.

Chorus Albany local lead Melissa Elson said the team was looking for people with their own car and a driver’s licence to volunteer their time between 9am and 10.30am from Monday to Friday.

“Every single day we are short-staffed,” she said.

“We send a driver and a runner so two people in a car but about half the time we actually don’t have enough, especially in August because it is freezing and everyone goes up north and so we are really, really needing some drivers.

“For a lot of our clients that get the food delivered this is a wellness check each day for them as well so sometimes you might be the only person that this customer sees all day.

“You are making a big difference to someone’s life daily.”

Ms Elson said they were also looking for kitchen hands to help prepare meals and volunteers to assist with their Thursday roast lunches at the Albany Senior Citizen Centre.

“Some of our volunteers have been here from the get go,” she said.

“For our vollies here in Albany, it is a real community thing everyone really gets on board, gets down, gets it done, it is just a good feeling to be part of a team.”

To volunteer call 08 9841 2168, email albanymeals@chorus.org.au or visit chorus.org.au.