For 72 years, Meals on Wheels has filled bellies and warmed hearts around Aotearoa, but it's running lean on volunteers, writes Seven Sharp reporter Rachel Parkin.
Robin Curry cut a tall figure. A bold figure. A cheeky figure.
"Famous? More like infamous," he said with a grin.
At the Meals on Wheels pick-up hub at Te Whatu Ora's WellFood in Christchurch, everybody knew Curry.
"We've got a nice wee meeting group here you can see, you get to know everybody... Bernie who just left, I trained him," he told me.
Then we jumped into Curry's beloved EV — "don't need petrol for this one" — to start the morning's deliveries. His boot was stacked with steaming parcels of roast beef, golden potato, cauliflower and peas.
As we drove, he told me his why.
After 45 years of public service, it was just in his nature.
"I'm a people person, yes. It's helping out your local community, making certain the people that need the meals get them and I really like helping people," Curry said.
As his windscreen wipers worked overtime in the rain, he told me that for some people the hot meal delivery was their only human contact that week.
It was, Curry said, a crucial welfare check-in.
"If I'm doing my meals and I notice something that's not quite right — like that person hasn't picked up last time's meal... I let the team know."
When pensioner Cecilia Fitch opened her door her grin said it all.
"Good morning Cecilia! I come bearing gifts today!" Curry called in a loud, clear voice. "Hello! I'm most grateful, thank you!" Fitch replied.
Then, as Curry carried on with his deliveries, I was welcomed inside.
"Oh it's delicious, it really is," Fitch told me. "I eat everything I'm given. My mother always used to say good food is cheap doctor's bills."
Not having to cook had made life so much easier for the Scottish-born Cantabrian.
"I'd cooked for my family and I just found I was buying the food and throwing it out... so this is just lovely."
"Hmmmm," she said taking a bite of beef. "The meat is so lean and there's plenty for me."
"Why would you encourage more people to help out with Meals on Wheels?" I asked.
She paused and thought about it.
"Because you're helping somebody and until you do it, you don't realise how helpful you can be," Fitch said.
Back in the car with Curry, I asked if he got as much out of it as his clients.
"I think I actually get more," he replied.
Curry is one of many drivers helping out on Christmas Day.
The service needs more people like him. Both Auckland and Christchurch are about 100 volunteers short and some of the smaller areas too.
"Robin is a super-star. We love seeing him come in every day," Red Cross team leader Pip Mabin told me. "He's part of quite a diverse team and you're right, we just need some more people, some more superstars to join our team."
If you've got the transport, a couple of hours a week and a smile at the ready, Meals on Wheels would love to hear from you.
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