The feeding of the 5,000 with only five loaves and two fishes—that’s the idea that comes to mind for Gary Ledoux, CEO of Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home when he thinks about how he is going to feed good and healthy meals to residents in 2025 based on a 2009 food budget from the Manitoba government.
For Laurie Cerqueti, CEO of the Simkin Centre, a Jewish personal care home, the story of how the Pharoah commanded the Hebrew slaves in Egypt to make the same amount of bricks with less straw is the one that sticks with her—and she has to buy more expensive kosher food.
Both appreciate that the provincial government is under enormous pressure when it comes to health care dollars, but say something needs to be done to ensure seniors in Manitoba—the people who their religious traditions say must be respected and cared for—don’t suffer when it comes to mealtimes.
Read my story in the Free Press.
Gary Ledoux (right),
director of Bethania Personal Care Home, and Delroy Clarke, director of food
and environmental services, in the kitchen where staff are preparing lunch for
care home residents.
