Fresh, hot meals for the community

Every Tuesday and Thursday, community members can have a freshly cooked hot meal from Café Connect delivered direct to their doorstep.

During the Covid-19 crisis, Orange City Council’s Choices at Home is continuing to provide the Meals on Wheels service to our local elderly residents. With additional funding, Orange City Council have called on Café Connect to partner with them to deliver hot meals within the community in addition to their regular frozen offerings.

LiveBetter’s CEO Natalie Forsyth said, “Given that we have LiveBetter’s Café Connect here and it’s only been running as a takeaway option, we were pleased to get involved and assist the community. The idea is that we are delivering fresh, healthy and hot meals to people who are registered with My Aged Care and on the Commonwealth Home Support program or in the pre-eligibility stage. Last week was the launch for us and since then our orders have doubled which is fantastic.”

As volunteers are asked to stay home during this time, Orange City Council have made the switch to use their own staff to keep the service going which, in turn has set limitations on numbers and availability on certain days. Natalie continued, “It’s not only about cooking the meals, it’s also about being able to deliver them around town and we are very grateful to Council that we get to fill that gap.”

Café Connect Chef, Jamie Stewart added, “The menu at the moment is chicken pie with vegetables, lasagne and salad and roast pumpkin, and feta and macaroni and cheese – all of which have a high nutritional value. People who ordered last week have reordered which means they must be enjoying the fresh homemade meals.

“Most of the recipients are in independent housing, so they are happy to receive their meals hot, and even just happy to see a familiar face. It’s great getting out and delivering to some of the more vulnerable people and to see how happy they are to receive their food, it’s a good feeling. It usually takes me (with the amount of orders at the moment) about an hour to deliver around Orange.”

The partnership will run through to September, with the hope to continue into the future.

To assist with hot meal demand please place your order at least two days prior. Contact Orange City Council’s Choices at Home on 6393 8968, to place your order.



More Choices at Home

Enjoy a freshly cooked meal delivered to your door for just $6.50