By Luke Voogt
Belmont’s Leon Herviou, 83, has delivered meals to Geelong’s elderly for the last 20 years, and has no plans of stopping yet.
“I might be 83, but I feel 60,” the former regional retail manager told the Indy.
“You want to keep yourself interested in life and as you get older you don’t want to be sitting in a bloody chair all day.
“I’ve been an active person all my life, and I will be like that as long as can be.”
Leon’s involvement with Meals on Wheels started 34 years ago when he began “jockeying” for wife Irene.
“I would drive her – she used to sit in the passenger seat and do the paperwork,” he said.
“When I retired (20 years ago) I said we might as well work as a team.”
The couple remained a team until Irene’s death last year. But her passing did not dampen Leon’s commitment.
“She was the same as me – she just loved volunteering,” he said.
“I get out and do what’s got to be done – It gives you a sense of achievement.”
Leon praised his fellow deliverers, one of who has volunteered for Meals on Wheels for 45 years, he said.
The elderly access the meals for a variety of reasons ranging from frailty to illness, he added.
“All they have to do is heat them and eat them.”
But the social aspect of the program was just as important as the meals, Leon said.
“Some of these people don’t have a lot of visitors, their families work during the week and they don’t get to see them very often.
“In some cases, they even become friends. Although obviously we can’t sit and talk for half an hour because we’ve got other customers to get to.”
Recently, falling Commonwealth subsidies for meals have threatened Meals on Wheels existence.
But in May the Federal Government announced new funding that would allow the program to continue until at least 2020/21.
