When the Courtesy Association was founded in 1964, its mission was simple yet profound: neighbours helping neighbours. Meals on Wheels was one of its first initiatives, but it wasn’t the only one. Volunteers also offered rides to the doctor, friendly visits to those living alone, and companionship for residents in nursing homes.
By the early 1980s, one program had outgrown all the others. The demand for home-delivered meals surged, stretching the limits of both the budget and the volunteer roster. To keep up, the Courtesy Association made a difficult decision — to focus solely on Meals on Wheels. The name changed, the structure simplified, but the heart remained.
For the next two decades, Meals on Wheels Peterborough thrived as a single-service organization, ensuring that thousands of residents received nutritious meals and caring contact. Still, the original spirit of the Courtesy Association — to meet community needs in many ways — lingered quietly in its DNA.
That spirit found new life in 2003, when Meals on Wheels joined Community Care Peterborough. Under this broader umbrella, the organization could once again serve the community in full colour — offering not only meals, but also transportation, friendly visiting, grocery assistance, exercise and wellness programs, and so much more.
What began as a small act of neighbourliness has come full circle. Sixty years later, the legacy of the Courtesy Association lives on — not in name, but in every act of care that continues to connect people across the city and county of Peterborough.
