Celebrating our dedicated volunteers: Mark MacLeod makes time to support Meals on Wheels
National Volunteer Week (April 19-25, 2026) recognizes the people across Canada who are making an impact in their communities through volunteerism.
Mark MacLeod works a full-time job as a financial advisor with Co-operators in Sydney. At least once a week, Mark takes time out of his busy work day to volunteer with New Dawn Meals on Wheels, providing a nutritious meal and a friendly check-in for seniors and others who are unable to prepare meals on their own.
“I just use my lunch hour every Monday and every second Wednesday,” he says. “I work downtown, so I’m close by and I just pop over and pick up the meals and hit the road. It usually takes less than an hour it’s easy to make it work with my schedule.”
In his first year of service with Meals on Wheels, Mark has delivered more than 60 routes, over 750 meals, and impacted more than 100 individuals struggling with nutrition and social isolation.
“Mark consistently carves out time from his busy workday to support Meals on Wheels,” says Sara Roth, New Dawn’s Manager of Community Meals. “The quiet, steady impact he makes has such a huge reach.”
Volunteers like Mark are at the heart of Meals on Wheels, a non-profit organization operated by New Dawn that prepares and delivers over 40,000 healthy, affordable meals to people across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, including people who are recovering from a hospital stay, people experiencing an illness or who are chronically ill, and people who don’t have access to adequate nutrition. Meals on Wheels helps people maintain their independence and stay in their homes with support.
In addition to addressing nutrition and food security, combating loneliness and social isolation is an important part of the work of Meals on Wheels. Research shows seniors and those with limited mobility are at a higher risk — a national survey of meal recipients in America found more than 71 percent lived alone and 64 percent said the delivery volunteer is always or sometimes the only person they see that day.
For Mark, the social interactions with people along his routes is the thing he enjoys most about volunteering with Meals on Wheels.
“There’s someone I see regularly who is in a wheelchair and doesn’t have much mobility and sometimes she’ll ask me, ‘Can you tie up that garbage bag,’ or can I take it out or something like that. It’s something small but could make a big difference in her day, and maybe it’s something she’s been looking at or had on her mind all day and maybe that’s the only contact she’s had today,” Mark says. “For people who might not have visitors regularly that couple of minutes of interaction could make a big difference.”
Volunteering doesn’t just benefit the recipient — there are lots of proven benefits to the volunteer, too, including improved mental and physical health, strengthened communities connections, and opportunities to learn new skills. In the workplace, volunteering can build leadership and stronger bonds among co-workers, improve workplace satisfaction, and help attract and retain talent.
New Dawn Meals on Wheels is teaming up with local businesses who want to make a big impact in their community with just a couple of hours of employee time each work week. Our Adopt-a-Route Program invites groups to take ownership of a weekly Meals on Wheels route, delivering meals and offering a friendly check-in. The Meals on Wheels team will visit your workplace to provide training and help you with a weekly volunteer schedule that works for you.
Mark says he thought about volunteering for a while before he made the commitment, and he’s glad he finally did. For anyone in the same boat, thinking about getting involved, his advice is to go for it.
“It’s a small time commitment and definitely something worth doing. I really enjoy it — the interaction, and just the thought of having a meal brought to you when you can’t prepare it on your own, that’s huge. Everyone loves a good, homecooked meal.”
Learn more about our Corporate Volunteering Program and volunteering with Meals on Wheels here.
We have volunteer training sessions coming up soon! Learn more here.
It’s National Volunteer Week in Canada (April 19-25), celebrating the ways in which people in Canada have ignited volunteerism in their communities! Also, the United Nations has declared 2026 as International Volunteer Year. Volunteer Canada has launched Ignite Volunteerism, a year-long effort to elevate the role of civic participation, rebuild volunteer infrastructure, and celebrate volunteer stories. Learn more here and here.
