A kind-hearted mum-of-four from Dorset is cooking 80 meals a day from her small kitchen to help elderly and vulnerable people in her community.
Sophie Mears, 33, spends up to ten hours each day batch cooking free food parcels to be delivered to those who cannot leave their homes because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sophie, who usually works in admin at a local school, began working from home when the lockdown started, but also wanted to do her bit to help the community.
Her act of kindness has now snowballed into a massive meals on wheels mission.
Her partner Gary organises and bags the meals for delivery and they have a team of up to eight volunteers delivering the food.
Locals have donated food and money to help cover her costs making hearty meals like soups, stews, chilli, lamp hotpot and cottage pie.
Sophie uses several slow cookers to do a lot of the bulk cooking and then finishes off the bits that can’t be done in slow cookers on the hob and in the oven.
And she says her children – all under nine- have all been getting on with schoolwork or playing quietly to allow her enough time to do the cooking.
She explained: ‘It started a few weeks ago, somebody said there was a family in need of a meal so I provided a few bits for them and it just grew from there. Now I’m cooking a roast dinner for 80!
‘My kitchen is not massive, it’s just a normal family kitchen. My garage has turned into a storage area with a couple of fridges and a chest freezer; people have just been amazing with donating all sorts’.
Sophie, who’s worked in pubs and restaurants, also caters to vegetarian and vegan diets.
But her generous effort was almost halted when the council were unable to carry out health and safety checks due to the coronavirus crisis. But they agreed to do a virtual inspection and passed her online.
Sophie added: ‘The support has just been unbelievable and it just fills my heart with joy to know when I sit down at night for a meal with my family, I’ve been able to help somebody else have that too.
‘We do between 60 and 80 meals a day, roughly 30 deliveries. I probably spend about ten hours a day cooking it all, packing it up then cleaning and getting ready to start all over again.
‘I don’t feel like I’m doing anything special, just cooking.’
MORE: Mum creates amazing homemade farm after daughter’s birthday was cancelled due to coronavirus
MORE: Mum in lockdown makes grocery shop last for months with clever batch cooking and freezing
Coronavirus latest news and updates
- Visit our live blog for the latest updates: Coronavirus news live
- Read all new and breaking stories on our Covid-19 news page
- Coronavirus symptoms explained
- Find out the latest on which shops can stay open in a lockdown
- Who needs to go to work, who needs to stay at home and who is classed as a key worker?
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/05/kind-hearted-mum-cooks-80-meals-day-feed-vulnerable-people-coronavirus-pandemic-12511119/?ITO=squid
0 Comments