The harsh realities of life for some elderly people in the country, such as being forgotten by their families or having serious health problems, is the inspiration behind the Meals on Wheels programme.

The programme delivers cooked food to elderlies who are silently battling isolation or chronic illnesses.

The initiative was started by Rarotonga businessman Don Carlaw in conjunction with Te Vaerua, a non-government organisation focused on providing rehabilitative goods and services to the people of the Cook Islands.

The initiative started off as a small gesture but the demand for more help from the elderlies have resulted in the expansion of the Meals on Wheels programme.

They are now looking for volunteers such as people who are willing to cook while they buy the ingredients and some to help with the delivery.

They also hope the government can step in and provide some form of assistance to further their efforts in helping people in need.

Carlaw said the programme aims to both alleviate existing poverty and bring a smile to the faces of those struggling with life’s challenges.

“There’s limited resources and if we can make it more cost effective in the way we do it, someone prepared to cook the food, someone prepared to put food at discounted rate, if there’s a couple of people in my position to put some money into it then it’s a whole different game,” he said.

“If Te Vaerua doesn’t have a person to deliver, then if the government is able to help with that to allocate a person to deliver to make sure the food goes out then that’ll be very helpful.

“We can only give so much. I support the Paws and Claws (cat sanctuary) as well but we can’t save the whole island but this is a good start.”

The Meals on Wheels started over a month ago delivering food to elderly people increasing food packages from 10 to 17 plates of food per week.

Te Vaerua staff, Maineine Beniamina, a rehabilitation nurse, and Pareina Tangata are the two main facilitators of Meals on Wheels who are doing surveys to identify people in need, mainly elders.

“We have to prioritise because there’s a lot of elderly people in unfortunate situation and with disabilities, living alone or bedridden,” Tangata said.

“So we prioritise who to give to every week we deliver food.”

When asked how they identify and categorise who to supply food to, she said the target recipients are elderlies who are struggling with serious health issues and are confined to bed

“Hardship, we look at their home situations, we can tell that they struggle to have nice meals every day,” she said.

“There’s some who tell us their struggles like staying in a tent and they appreciate anything like home ingredients like milk and butter or food.

“There’s other elderlies who have families and get forgotten, they have families but sometimes they forget about them and they go by themselves and sometimes they get sick without being noticed.”

Te Vaerua and Carlaw hope more people will join their team’s volunteer efforts so together, they can ensure that elderly people live better lives despite their harsh realities.