In the summer of 1964, the idea of Meals on Wheels in Peterborough was little more than a hope shared by a handful of neighbours. On June 3, community members gathered at the Senior Citizens Recreation Centre on McDonnell Street “for the purpose of welding into a responsible organization those citizens interested in the welfare of elderly people living alone.” The meeting was chaired by Ralph Hancox, then Editor of the Peterborough Examiner, whose early support would prove essential. At a time when local newspapers shaped the pulse of a community, the Examiner’s promotion of the Courtesy Association gave the fledgling effort visibility it could not have found on its own.
An Executive was elected that day, but the first hurdles appeared almost immediately. By the time the group held its second meeting on September 14, two members of the Executive had resigned. Their request to use the telephone answering service at the Senior Citizens Centre had been declined, leaving the new organization without even a basic way to receive calls for help. For most volunteer-driven initiatives, these early setbacks can be fatal. But the remaining leadership chose to persevere. They recruited two replacements and continued searching for a way forward.
They found it in Etta Finlay. Unable to work outside the home because she used a wheelchair, Etta agreed to monitor a dedicated telephone line, fielding requests for meals and support. The Courtesy Association didn’t yet have the $10 per month needed to pay her, but then came a timely $100 donation from the Civitan Club. It was a small gift with an outsized impact—enough to give the Executive confidence that the community was behind them.
That confidence was needed. Nearly 50 people were already seeking help by the time Meals on Wheels officially launched with just eight meals on October 22, 1964. From such a fragile beginning emerged a service that has endured for sixty years, held together then—as now—by a community determined to care for its own.
