Cris Leonard had no use for two new mobility scooters sitting in his warehouse, and wanted to find a way to use them to help people in need in his community.
The result, an outreach client from Langley Senior Resources Society has been gifted a scooter to aid with his mobility issues. The other has been donated to the centre to raffle off.
Leonard is a realtor and associate broker with Royal LePage Wolstencroft in Langley. He had imported a few scooters, initially with plans of getting into the business.
"A while ago, I had considered going into importing mobility scooters and setting up distribution of them in Canada," he explained Monday, when presenting the donation to the seniors centre.
"After ordering these two units as samples, even though they were a top-quality product, I decided to pursue other ventures and table the idea," Leonard said.
"For sometime I have been thinking of what to do with them," he explained.
"I decided I wanted to give them to a worthy cause that would either pass them on to people in need or to use them in a way to help their cause. That is when I discovered the Langley Senior Resources Society. I dropped in and met with Paul Goldberg, the executive director, and discussed donating the scooters. He was very receptive to the idea and agreed to get back to me with a plan on how they would use them. He did and I agreed to donate them.”
The scooters remained in storage in Leonard's warehouse until Monday, when they were delivered to the centre on 51B Avenue.
Leonard is pleased that his donation will provide mobility to someone in need and help raise funds for the centre, a cause he feels is quite worthy.
The second scooter will be raffle off to raise with funds for LSRS. The winner's name will be drawn during the centre's 7th annual garage sale on May 6.
“We’re very excited to accept this donation,” Goldberg said. “These scooters will be life-changing for seniors with mobility issues who couldn’t otherwise afford them. We cannot thank Mr. Leonard enough for his generosity.”
