Retirement village cooking to support their residents

Townsville retirement village residents have been cooking their way through the floods, supporting one another through blocked roads and food shortages.

With more 100 meals made and handed out, the Bolton Clarke Rowes Bay retirement village residents grabbed what they could from the shops to help those residents who couldn’t make it out during the floods.

“The bus couldn’t get out to take some of the residents shopping who can’t drive during the severe weather and floods,” resident Margaret said.

“Food was getting short in supply so I went out, grabbing what I could and cooked up some meals for those who had no food.

“I made about 150 meals of things like cottage pie, lasagne and stroganoff – anything that’s easy to heat up and eat,” she said.

Residents were bound to the village for about two weeks earlier this year while Margaret used the kitchen in the village’s hall to make up meals and hand them out regularly.

“The residents were all really grateful when we dropped off the meals – in this village we look after each other.

“The kitchen is my happy place and I just love it, we have a beautiful kitchen in the hall so I did a bit of the cooking in my unit but most of it up at the hall.

“We were very lucky to not be directly affected by the flood but it just rained so heavily during that time that it wasn’t even safe to drive.

“I still have a few meals left over in the freezer just in case anyone needs anymore but we have been able to leave and head up to the shops now as things have started to calm down.”