The strong links between two Drogheda voluntary organisations were underlined recently when Drogheda Rotary Club hosted Drogheda Homeless Aid for a special cheque presentation to support the town’s Meals on Wheels Service.

Seamus Daly, President of Drogheda Rotary Club made a presentation of a cheque for €5,000 to Paul Murphy, Chairperson Drogheda Homeless Aid (DHA).

In an address to guests, including Senator Alison Comyn, who is a member of Rotary, Mr Daly said that for the last number of years there had been strong links between the two organisations, born out of a desire to keep the Meals on Wheels service running successfully. Meals were now delivered to 55-60 residents in the greater Drogheda area.

Paul Murphy stressed the importance of keeping the lines of communication open between Rotary and DHA so that the meals service ran smoothly. He thanked the Rotary President and members for their generous gesture and said that the money would be put to very good use.

The Rotary Club of Drogheda identified a need in the 1960s to provide a community-based mobile hot meal service for the infirm, elderly and incapacitated citizens of Drogheda.

A joint committee of Rotarians and members of the Inner Wheel Club (lady members) was established which included Willie and Violet Berney, Ken Allen, Wally Lee and their wives and the service was introduced in 1969. The meals were cooked in the kitchen attached to St Peter’s Parochial Centre in Peter Street by members of Inner Wheel and their friends. The meals were distributed by Rotarians.

The service was expanded based on demand and became part of Drogheda’s social fabric. The service was provided completely free and was funded by donations, fundraising and Hse grant. Public health nurses assisted in identifying citizens who might need the service and hot, nutritious meals and dessert were delivered to about 50 people.

With the closure of the Parochial Centre, the cooking was moved to the St Vincent de Paul Centre in Trinity Street. At this stage the project consisted of 60 willing ladies who gave of their time three days a week to buy ingredients, prepare meals and pack them into insulated boxes. This was managed by Inner Wheel member Adri Berney. The delivery team of Rotarians was augmented by local volunteers. A bond of friendship grew up between the delivery people and the recipients. Very often, the Rotary Club person might be the only person the recipient would see that day and it provided at least some social interaction.

With more demands on the service combined with diminishing numbers of volunteers, Rotary sought and received assistance from Drogheda Homeless Aid which took over the cooking of meals which took place at Dha kitchen at North Strand. The partnership has been a very successful one and up to 1,000 meals are delivered annually.

The establishment of the Meals on Wheels Service has been one of the proudest achievements of Rotary. Its members thanked particular the coordinators of the service including Colman Carroll, Ger de Loughrey (sadly no longer with us), Michael McCormick, volunteer ladies who cooked the meals, volunteers drivers, public health nurses, HSE North East and Local Gardaí who helped deliver meals during the pandemic lockdown.

Lorcan Murphy of Rotary said “We in Rotary were happy to hand the Meals on Wheels Service over to our partners, Drogheda Homeless Aid who have a proven track record and necessary expertise to manage this project. The infirm, elderly and incapacitated members of our community can be confident of receiving a quality Meals on Wheels Service into the future. We in Rotary will be available in a supporting role.”