In addition to delivering food, the Illawarra branches of Meals on Wheels are also distributing another essential household item to their clients - toilet paper.
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The service is also reporting a "surge" in applications due to the coronavirus pandemic; both from clients and volunteers wanting to help.
Woolworths is donating four-packs of toilet paper to Meals on Wheels to give to clients, which the service began distributing last week during their regular deliveries.
"Many of them are very grateful because they're unable to get to the shopping centres to buy their own, and there's usually none available in the shopping centres anyway," Bruce Kafer, president of the Port Kembla Meals on Wheels committee said.
This isn't the only modification Meals on Wheels Illawarra have made to their operations due to COVID-19.
Sarah Callaway, manager of Wollongong Meals on Wheels said they'd reduced their deliveries to two days a week, instead of Monday to Friday.
They are also now only delivering frozen meals.
"We have also had a huge increase in people ringing up wanting the service and needing the service," she told the Mercury.
"We've had a huge surge in numbers of clients.
"We've also had a surge in volunteer recruitment.
"There are lots of people who have been put off their jobs who are wanting to volunteer with us, which has been really good."
She said measures in place included that volunteers delivering the meals were no longer to enter the clients' homes, and instead were to pass the meals through the door to them where possible.
Volunteers making deliveries use wipes, hand sanitizer, gloves and face masks.
"Volunteers are no longer allowed to come into our office," she said.
"Myself and another staff member, we pack all the meals, we get them ready for delivery... We've had to schedule all our volunteers an allotted time when they have to come and collect their meals, instead of them all being in the reception area at the same time."
Meanwhile, Mr Kafer said Meals on Wheels is considered an essential service, and would continue to operate during the pandemic.
He said they had also implemented strict hygiene protocols during deliveries, with hand santizing wipes and gloves used.
"We're only delivering frozen meals to the clients; that's just to reduce risks associated with handling food and so forth," Mr Kafer said.
"The frozen meals can be packed and ready to go either the night before or morning before, without any kind of preparation required.
"That also reduces the number of staff that are required in the facilities to do the work."
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