Meals on Wheels expansion in Sudbury delayed due to pandemic

Meals on Wheels in Sudbury was hoping to offer home-cooked meals to its clients by now.The pandemic has caused delays in the organization's expansion plans.

Last year, it received $150,000 through the Ontario Trillium Foundation's resiliency fund to renovate and purchase equipment for its kitchen.

The group would be able to produce frozen meals in house, instead of relying on a manufacturer in southern Ontario.

"We produce great, high quality, nutritious meals. Now we're going to move into another component where we're doing the frozen meals as well," saidShannon Ketchabaw,executive director.

Part of the delay has been a problem getting new equipment, Ketchabaw said.

"It took awhile to get our freezers in. And then once we had the freezers in then, there were issues with the electrical. So we needed to ensure that we had the proper breakers, and those took time to come in."

She saidit's been frustrating, but looks forward to the work being complete.

"I think that we as a Meals on Wheels provider have provenwe're resilient throughout all of this. That we've been able to withstand things that have been thrown at us, and just be able to continue to provide services."

Ketchabaw hopes the expanded program will be ready to offer their clients early in the new year.