While Lesley Wells enjoys cooking, toiling for long hours in a kitchen to create hundreds of meals a week is not what she expected to be a pastime in her retirement years.

Turns out, however, she鈥檚 having the time of her life with her latest cooking endeavour that came to fruition last summer 鈥� with the onset of COVID and an influx of people in her community experiencing food insecurities.

鈥淚鈥檝e always loved cooking and entertaining. It鈥檚 nice to put that to work, not only to feed people I know and love, but to help people who need it in our community,鈥� said the 68-year-old 91原创 City woman who is leading a new meal program offered in conjunction with the 91原创 Meals on Wheels and 91原创 Sources Food Bank.

From accounting and sales to quality assurance, Wells did all that and more during her career.

But when she found herself retiring back in her hometown of 91原创, and started casting about for something fulfilling to do with her spare time, she gave serious thought to what that might look like.

She knew she was soon to be a senior, herself, and knowing she wanted to do something meaningful, she sought to help serve the senior in her own community. She quickly narrowed in on the 91原创 Meals on Wheels, describing her initial duties as a volunteer driver as a great fit.

鈥淥ften seniors lack the support they need to remain in their own homes and feel part of the community,鈥� Wells said.

鈥淚 took it very seriously, volunteering with Meals on Wheels, because I think it鈥檚 so important what they do,鈥� she added, appreciating that the drivers do so much more than just put a nutritious meal in front of shut-ins, but provide (for many) their only social contact in a day.

Wells started by delivering meals for the non-profit organization, and later took on added office duties before joining the Meals on Wheels board of directors for a term. Now, however, she jokes that she鈥檚 been relegated to the kitchen since this new program started in July.

The Community Kitchen program takes the Meals on Wheels efforts a step further, Wells explained.

Meals on Wheels works with the Salvation Army鈥檚 Gateway of Hope kitchen team to create and distributed about 120 hot meals a day around 91原创. In fact, Wells delivered those meals for the better part of a decade 鈥� until this new initiative came up and Meals on Wheels executive director Shannon Woykin sought someone to spearhead the undertaking.

That ended up being Wells, and to say the pilot project is consuming much of her time is an understatement, she chuckled.

The program takes fresh food from Sources鈥� food recovery initiative and sees Wells and a team of three other volunteers make nutritious frozen meals.

鈥淪o far, the quality of food has been excellent and the meals we鈥檝e been able to make have surpassed our expectation,鈥� said Woykin, who鈥檚 anxious to augment the services for existing clients, as well as anyone else in need in 91原创.

Wells elaborated, saying the frozen meals are for people of all ages, from school-aged kids going to class without enough to eat, to rehomed homeless people, to seniors needing a little extra help taking care of their nutritional needs.

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Using the items from the food recovery program run by Sources, the foursome went from preparing 40 meals a week since the project鈥檚 inception last summer to creating 150-plus. Wells only sees the demand growing as COVID-19 continues to be such a huge part of everyone鈥檚 live.

She and her team work two days a week (Mondays and Wednesdays), about four to five hours per shift, in a small church kitchen. Since the space doesn鈥檛 allow the team to get any bigger per shift, Wells is looking to add a third shift on another day, and encourages those like-minded individuals willing to help out to contact her via email lesleywells@shaw.ca.

鈥淏y expanding, we could make more meals and feed more people,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think a lot of people realized how critical it has become for a lot of people鈥� as a direct result of COVID, including for many who have lost their jobs and are struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

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Knowing how much she鈥檚 helping all those people, Wells said she loves what she鈥檚 doing, loves volunteering, and loves making a difference in the lives of so many.

鈥淭here鈥檚 people who will, and people who won鈥檛,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want to be a person who does鈥� and, it鈥檚 addicting鈥︹��

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She describes her volunteer endeavours as a selfish act on her part. She could spend her time reading books, travelling the country (maybe not so much during COVID), or dedicate hours a week to sewing garments for her granddaughter.

But she鈥檇 rather volunteer.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the most rewarding work I鈥檝e ever done,鈥� Wells concluded, saying for the foreseeable future she sees herself continuing to cook for the community kitchen program. 鈥淚 think I benefit as much as I give, probably more鈥� I love it, and I think more people should try it.鈥�

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