Meal service dropped for seniors in rural areas around Moncton
"Reminder: Please note this is your last meal delivery," the note said.
For about a year, the 87-year-old widow in Petitcodiac received five meals a week from the United Way seniors' meal program.
For several years, the United Way Centraid, which serves Greater Moncton and Southeastern New Brunswick, has offered a meal delivery service for seniors in Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview.
Two years ago with the help of a federal grant, the service expanded to include surrounding rural communities. The grant was to last two years only.
No explanation from United Way
Now the two years are up, and Brent McMackin, Joan's son, is saddened by the news his mother won't be able to receive well-balanced meals throughout the week.
"You could almost say it was life-changing, you know, because it made it so easy," said McMackin, who is semi-retired.
United Way declined an interview request and just confirmed in a statement that the pilot project was over.
"We recognize the ongoing need in outlying communities and are actively exploring new funding opportunities to expand the service area in the future."
According to a social media post from January 2025, the United Way in Moncton was delivering about 3,000 meals a week, offering five to 10 meals a week to each recipient in need. It wasn't clear how many of the recipients lived in rural areas.
McMackin and his mother both live in Petitcodiac, about 40 kilometres from Moncton. The prepared and frozen meals were delivered from Moncton to Joan's home once a week.
Joan is unable to cook for herself consistently throughout the week. While her son checks in on her everyday, it becomes challenging to make and deliver meals to her on a regular basis.
McMackin's late father-in-law was also a recipient of the meal delivery service. For him, it was even more essential because, as a widower and a senior with limited physical capabilities, he was unable to prepare his own food.
"As for a lot of senior individuals, it's difficult for them to prepare and to pay for a balanced diet,"
McMackin said.
The meals that Joan received cost her up to $2 each, her son said. For seniors needing affordable meal services, the program was an excellent option, he said.
The notice United Way sent to recipients said that all seniors receiving the meals would be added to the waiting list for the provincial seniors' meal program.
Seniors in rural areas lack access
Without the program to serve meals to seniors in rural areas, more seniors could end up in hospital, said sociologist Katharine Dunbar of Mount Allison University, who focuses on health inequities
Dunbar said that meal delivery services are essential to rural communities because they maintain the health and well-being of older residents.
Since rural areas have less access to health services, ensuring nutritious and consistent meals for them is a part of keeping them healthy.
Dunbar speculated that the United Way simply couldn't keep up with the demand.
"Community organizations and community services tend to sort of work to fill those gaps that are left as a result of not having adequate funding through the provincial or territorial government," Dunbar said.
"There's fewer organizations working in rural areas. And so what you often find is that one organization is providing a whole variety of services to members of the community."
Without the meal service reaching rural communities like Peticodiac, McMackin hopes to find a permanent solution for his mother.
"I think it was a valuable program," he said. "And it can be provided at a reasonable cost. And I think that's probably already been proven that it should continue."
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Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The couple has three options: Maybe a charity kitchen will be open and they can get a pot of watery lentils. Or they can try jostling through crowds to get some flour from a passing aid truck. The last resort is begging. If those all fail, they simply don't eat. It happens more and more these days, as hunger saps their energy, strength and hope. The predicament of the Sobhs, who live in a seaside refugee camp west of Gaza City after being displaced multiple times, is the same for families throughout the war-ravaged territory. Hunger has grown throughout the past 22 months of war because of aid restrictions, humanitarian workers say. But food experts warned earlier this week the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Israel enforced a complete blockade on food and other supplies for 2 1/2 months beginning in March. It said its objective was to increase pressure on Hamas to release dozens of hostages it has held since its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Though the flow of aid resumed in May, the amount is a fraction of what aid organizations say is needed. A breakdown of law and order has also made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food. Much of the aid that does get in is hoarded or sold in markets at exorbitant prices. Here is a look at a day in the life of the Sobh family: A morning seawater bath The family wakes up in their tent, which Fadi Sobh, a 30-year-old street vendor, says is unbearably hot in the summer. With fresh water hard to come by, his wife Abeer, 29, fetches water from the sea. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. One by one, the children stand in a metal basin and scrub themselves as their mother pours the saltwater over their heads. Nine-month-old Hala cries as it stings her eyes. The other children are more stoic. Malak Sobh, 7, searches through garbage for plastic to use as cooking fuel next to a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians, where members of the Sobh family are taking shelter, in Gaza City on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Photo by Jehad Alshrafi / AP Photo Abeer then rolls up the bedding and sweeps the dust and sand from the tent floor. With no food left over from the day before, she heads out to beg for something for her family's breakfast. Sometimes, neighbours or passersby give her lentils. Sometimes she gets nothing. Abeer gives Hala water from a baby bottle. When she's lucky, she has lentils that she grinds into powder to mix into the water. 'One day feels like 100 days, because of the summer heat, hunger and the distress,' she said. A trip to the soup kitchen Fadi heads to a nearby soup kitchen. Sometimes one of the children goes with him. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'But food is rarely available there,' he said. The kitchen opens roughly once a week and never has enough for the crowds. Most often, he said, he waits all day but returns to his family with nothing 'and the kids sleep hungry, without eating.' Fadi used to go to an area in northern Gaza where aid trucks arrive from Israel. There, giant crowds of equally desperate people swarm over the trucks and strip away the cargo of food. Often, Israeli troops nearby open fire, witnesses say. Israel says it only fires warning shots, and others in the crowd often have knives or pistols to steal boxes. Fadi, who also has epilepsy, was shot in the leg last month. That has weakened him too much to scramble for the trucks, so he's left with trying the kitchens. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Meanwhile, Abeer and her three eldest children — 10-year-old Youssef, 9-year-old Mohammed and 7-year-old Malak — head out with plastic jerrycans to fill up from a truck that brings freshwater from central Gaza's desalination plant. The kids struggle with the heavy jerrycans. Youssef loads one onto his back, while Mohammed half-drags his, his little body bent sideways as he tries to keep it out of the dust of the street. RECOMMENDED VIDEO A scramble for aid Abeer sometimes heads to Zikim herself, alone or with Youssef. Most in the crowds are men — faster and stronger than she is. 'Sometimes I manage to get food, and in many cases, I return empty-handed,' she said. If she's unsuccessful, she appeals to the sense of charity of those who succeeded. 'You survived death thanks to God, please give me anything,' she tells them. Many answer her plea, and she gets a small bag of flour to bake for the children, she said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She and her son have become familiar faces. One man who regularly waits for the trucks, Youssef Abu Saleh, said he often sees Abeer struggling to grab food, so he gives her some of his. 'They're poor people and her husband is sick,' he said. 'We're all hungry and we all need to eat.' During the hottest part of the day, the six children stay in or around the tent. Their parents prefer the children sleep during the heat — it stops them from running around, using up energy and getting hungry and thirsty. Foraging and begging in the afternoon As the heat eases, the children head out. Sometimes Abeer sends them to beg for food from their neighbours. 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Abeer said she's grown weak and often feels dizzy when she's out searching for food or water. 'I am tired. I am no longer able,' she said. 'If the war goes on, I am thinking of taking my life. I no longer have any strength or power.' — Magdy reported from Cairo. Toronto Blue Jays Columnists Columnists Homes Canada
