FEELING GOOD, DOING GOOD - THE POWER OF COMMUNITY
- admin1356
- Mar 18
- 7 min read
Innes and Tevita are peeling carrots, potatoes and chopping vegetables at a rapid rate of knots. It’s been a year since they have worked in a kitchen together, but you wouldn’t know it.
They’re part of a group working around a large stainless steel commercial bench top, everyone peeling and chopping together. The conversation is easy, chatting about family and what the kids are up to. One woman is singing, just loud enough that it all adds to the happy atmosphere.
They are volunteering at Fair Food which is a food waste charity in Auckland that collects and re-distributes food which supermarkets and food producers would otherwise have thrown away.
The opportunity for the Young Onset Dementia Collective evolved as a result of awareness built from the TV series The Restaurant that Makes Mistakes. It’s been a year since Innes, Tevita, Sandra, Mal and the other young onset dementia cast members finished filming, but the popular series continues raise awareness.
One of the lead volunteers at Fair Food, Mandy watched the series and with a wealth of volunteering experience behind her, wondered what the team was up to now. Word reached Anne Logan of the Young Onset Dementia Collective who quickly set up a meeting with Fair Food to see what was possible. A plan was devised to open the kitchen on a Monday so that anyone with younger onset dementia (YOD) could come and contribute.
“This kitchen is an amazing facility,” Mandy says, “and we need to use it as much as possible. Working with the Young Onset Dementia Collective has allowed us to use the kitchen more.”
The kitchen at Fair Food had only been operating from Tuesday to Friday. On Monday, truck drivers bring in nearly two hundred banana boxes of food collected from their network of supermarkets that include New World, Pak n’ Save, Woolworths, and Farro Fresh. Volunteers meet on a Monday to grade the food that comes in. Some is fresh enough to go straight out again, but the items that have seen better days go into the kitchen to be cooked into meals.
This is the second Monday the team from Young Onset Dementia Collective (YODC) has volunteered. Some of the YODC support team are also on hand to make sure things go smoothly.
L-R | Andy YOD Volunteer working with Tevita L-R | Innes supported by Jane YOD Volunteer
“It might be as little as noticing the colour of the chopping boards,” says Anne. “It can be challenging for someone with dementia to chop orange carrots on an orange chopping board. We also make sure kindred spirits are working side by side which makes the experience more comfortable. And then at the end of the day we update the group and their families. People with young onset dementia can go home knowing they’ve had a good day but may not be able to share details. It’s important for partners to be assured their people have had a good day so we help fill in that gap,” says Anne.
Last week fellow cast mates Sandra and Mal joined Innes and Tevita which had an enormous impact on Fair Food’s productivity for the week. All the vegetables were prepped and ready to be cooked the next day, but they also managed to prep meals that went out the door the same day.
“We prepared 3 or 4 pots of tomatoes that went into a curry and the rest went with pasta as ready to eat meals,” says Mandy.
Those meals went to Mercy Waitemata which is a charitable trust that feeds homeless and struggling families. Each week, the group prepares enough ready meals for at least fifty families who otherwise might not have eaten that day.
Fair Food General Manager, Michelle Blau says, “We work with seventy different charity partners. Sadly, feeding people in need is a growth industry, so another day of fresh meals is a win.”
Fair Food has around 100 volunteers of all ages, ethnicities and skill levels who contribute their time each week. It is easy to sign up online to sort or prepare kai Monday – Saturday.
Michelle says no adjustments were needed at all for the YOD volunteers. “They’re fabulous,” she says. “With 3 tonnes of food a day to deal with, we don’t say no to anyone who wants to give their talent to us.”
Amongst the army of volunteers, a group with Downs Syndrome comes each week to chop bananas which are vacuum packed and frozen to send out as smoothie mix. In fact, a local ice cream maker, Little Island has started sourcing some of this surplus, so they can make sustainable, ethically sourced banana ice cream while helping fund Fair Food.
“We turn mistakes into miracles. Everything we cook was overlooked, or not the chosen one,” says Michelle of the Fair Food approach which extends far beyond food. We are a place of belonging,” she says.
“We like to ask our food suppliers to think about their hiring policy – what is possible, what is needed.”
Corporate groups often come in to do volunteer days and they ask them to do the same. What is your hiring policy? How are you thinking about your community?
It’s all music to Anne Logan’s ears. She is the driving force behind YODC and could not be happier to have connected with Fair Food.
“I’d love to bring a bigger group of people with younger onset dementia. It’s about joining the dots. All the academic research supports this kind of activity but not enough is done to make it happen. It's one way we help make a difference,” says Anne.
“The tasks the people with YOD are doing here are real life examples of cognitive stimulation.”
By definition, Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is a non-pharmacological intervention to improve memory and quality of life for people living with dementia.
“Here they are helping themselves, the community and enabling spouses to work without worry. It’s a win win win win” says Anne.
Innes’ sister Heather is one of the experienced YODC volunteers and agrees with Anne. “It’s an amazing opportunity in such a supportive environment which is enjoyable for everyone,” she says.
Over at the bench Tevita and Innes have moved on to husking corn and slicing the kernels from the cob.
One of the other volunteers remarks on Tevita’s very handy knife skills. “The knife is your friend and your enemy as well,” jokes Tevita who has not lost the careful and precise knife skills he learned from his TRTMM experience.
The significance of helping in the kitchen at Fair Food does not escape the former lawyer who spent a lifetime serving his community in various roles.
“It’s exciting to continue on with this work at another level,” says Tevita. “We are not serving customers in the restaurant but serving the community, helping others and feeding the people, not the landfill.”
At the cooktop, Anita is stirring a large pot of sliced carrots simmering with spices. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six months ago at just 56 years old. “I feel so lucky to be involved here,” she says.
Anita was not a part of the television series but knows Innes and Sandra and was approached by Anne from the YOD Collective with the opportunity to get involved. Anita and her husband ran a panel beating business together, but Anita’s diagnosis means she can no longer work in the business.
“This is so fulfilling,” Anita says as she keeps a watchful eye over two large pots cooking away on the stove. “And so much better than watching daytime tv. I’m very capable of doing these things.”
When she was first diagnosed, Anita joined an art group for people with dementia which she enjoyed but she was by far the youngest there. She leapt at the chance to join the YODC team at Fair Food.
“In the kitchen there is no one upmanship, it’s a community. And when my husband comes home from work, my cup is full. It’s exciting to be part of something so positive,’ says Anita.
This is exactly why Anne Logan would love to bring more people with younger onset dementia on their weekly Monday trips to Fair Food. She’s also seeking out more opportunities like this, so that people with YOD can live their best life, for as long as possible.
“It’s critical people with younger onset dementia have age-appropriate things to do and be involved in. These are people who still have so much to give and are entitled to opportunity and choice,” says Anne.
“Collaborating with community organisations like Fair Food helps us redefine what it means to live with younger onset dementia. And the benefits don’t just stop with the person with dementia because the families also feel that support. They can continue to work and be occupied with managing all the other family and financial responsibilities without worry or stress knowing their person is busy, engaged and supported.” (Anne Logan, YOD Collective)
By the end of the day the team has prepared carrot and lentil soup, broccoli cashew nut soup and the fresh corn has gone into a Mexican bean chili. They’ve also chopped a mountain of red peppers ready to be roasted by tomorrow’s team of volunteers. The meals prepared today by the Young Onset Dementia Collective are enough to feed fifty families later this evening.
We call that a ‘great day’!
The Young Onset Dementia Collective is committed to enabling a 'best life' for those living with younger onset dementia, their families, and carers. We need your support. We need connections with community organisations
We need volunteers
We need donations
We invite new members
GET IN TOUCH - contact@yod.co.nz
YOUR DONATION will HELP US HELP OURSELVES.
Getting help needed is a living challenge for the group behind Young Onset Dementia Collective.
If we wait for Government, Ministry of Health or under-funded agencies, it will be too little too late for our people.
For many the situation is dire. Help is needed NOW so we made a collective conscious decision to do everything we can to help ourselves. Spouses, partners, carers of people living with younger onset dementia have real life reasons driving combined determination.
Help us keep minds engaged and spirits lifted for those affected. Plus support carers in their financial, mental and wellbeing journey.
