Six decades of service: Elaine’s Meals on Wheels journey

After nearly 60 years delivering Meals on Wheels, Elaine Utting, QSM, still isn’t ready to hang up the keys. The long-serving volunteer continues to deliver meals regularly in Auckland, driven by the same desire to help others that first inspired her to sign up in early 1967.

Elaine first joined the New Zealand Red Cross Meals on Wheels delivery service after seeing a call for volunteers while she and her husband were building a house in Takapuna.

“I knew nobody in Takapuna at that stage, so I thought to myself, ‘Oh, that's something I could do’,” she says.

What began as a way to contribute to her new community soon became a lifelong commitment, which has also seen Elaine take on coordination roles for the service. Over the years, Meals on Wheels became a family affair, with her mother, husband, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all getting involved in one way or another along the way.

Her two young sons accompanied her on deliveries in the early years, often chatting with recipients while she delivered meals from her little Vauxhall 12.

“One was four, one was one,” Elaine recalls. “I found that the older people living on their own, they just loved talking to the children.”

When her sons started school, they continued helping Elaine during the holidays, helping carry the puddings to recipients.

Elaine’s mother also joined her on deliveries, helping care for the children while Elaine completed her rounds. She enjoyed it so much that she remained involved for decades, later volunteering alongside another driver until she was in her mid-80s.

During school holidays, Elaine’s grandchildren and, more recently, great-grandchildren have accompanied her on her deliveries, helping to count meals and read addresses.

“I think it’s taught them compassion,” she says. “It’s shown them that there are people in need.”

The changes over the decades

Over six decades, Elaine has seen many changes. In the early days, meals were delivered in reusable metal containers that volunteers collected when empty and returned to hospital kitchens. Drivers also collected payments and banked the money themselves.

“It took a lot longer,” she laughs. “These days they've got them in single-use containers and there’s a lot less administration.”

For 75 years, volunteers have been the driving force behind the New Zealand Red Cross Meals on Wheels delivery service.

The vehicles Elaine has driven over the years tell their own story of six decades of volunteering. The Vauxhall 12 she started out in occasionally required a crank handle to get it started.

“Every now and again it used to get starter motor trouble. I’d have to crank it. Truly, we had a crank handle,” she laughs.

She also remembers the day it broke down at traffic lights after she had finished a delivery run and was heading back to the hospital.

“I was holding up the traffic, and I’ll never forget this man behind me came up to me and said, ‘You can’t stop here’,” she says. “In the end he very graciously pushed me around the corner to a garage.”

From a Vauxhall 12 that occasionally needed a crank handle to today’s GPS-guided journeys, Elaine has driven a succession of cars over the years and remains fond of them all. “Every car has done its duty,” she says. “Every time we bought a better car, my husband took that to work, and I got his old one.”

Human connection at the heart of the service

Yet one thing has remained constant over the years – the importance of human connection for many recipients.

“Sometimes we're the only people they see all week or all month,” Elaine says. “They like the daily contact.”

For Elaine, volunteering has reinforced a belief she has held all her life.

“A community can't survive unless there are volunteers,” she says. “Without volunteers, I don't know how some places would survive.”

Now approaching her 60th anniversary as a Meals on Wheels volunteer, Elaine has no plans to stop anytime soon and now does meal deliveries with a friend.

“I've still got my licence and I still drive. I don't see why I have to give up,” she says. “Once I can't get in and out of a car, I'll give up.”

Until then, she will continue delivering meals – and the kindness, connection and community spirit that have defined her remarkable six decades of service.

More information

This year marks 75 years of the New Zealand Red Cross Meals on Wheels delivery service.  Volunteers are at the heart of the service, generously giving their time to deliver not only hot meals, but also care and connection to people in their communities.

We are truly grateful to all Meals on Wheels volunteers, including many who have been involved for decades, with some contributing for more than 50 years – an extraordinary commitment and community spirit.

Our Meals on Wheels service supports older people, those recovering from illness or injury, and others who live at home and may struggle to prepare hot, nutritious meals for themselves.

If you would like more information about Meals on Wheels and how New Zealand Red Cross supports the service, find out more below.
Get Meals on Wheels

Lead image: Elaine with her great-grandsons, Calvin and Cyrus, about to head out on a delivery run.