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Anonymous donor brightens day of Langley seniors with tulips

Meals On Wheels took the blooms to its clients Wednesday
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Volunteers, including Joyce, with Langley Meals on Wheels delivered tulips with the Wednesday meals to their clients, thanks to an anonymous local donor. (Shannon Woykin/Special to the Langley Advance Times)

Langley Meals On Wheels drivers gave out more than food this week, handing out bright new tulips thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

The flowers went out with meals on Wednesday as volunteers and local firefighters took meals to those who cannot leave their homes.

“The phone was just lit up all afternoon, all those seniors calling to tell us how much those flowers meant,” said Shannon Woykin, executive director of Langley Meals on Wheels.

“I didn’t understand the impact it would have,” she said.

An anonymous community member gave Meals on Wheels 200 tulips this week.

“All assorted colours,” Woykin said of the colourful blooms.

Meals On Wheels clients are mostly seniors who are permanently or temporarily confined to their homes.

With the coronavirus threat, they have seen a big increase in the number of local clients.

Langley Meals on Wheels handed out 190 meals Wednesday. Normally they run eight delivery routes all over Langley, but as of this week the charity is running 11 to 12 routes.

In addition, the charity has seen many of its volunteers, who are also seniors, having to stay home because they’re vulnerable to the coronavirus.

But just as the tulips brightened the days of the groups’ clients, Woykin said she’s been really heartened by the way the community has stepped up.

Langley Township and City firefighters have volunteered to take over delivery routes across the community. Telus employees have also been helping out.

Meanwhile, donations of food are up from grocery stores like Safeway and Save-On-Foods, and Cora’s restaurant donated loaves that went out this week, a little extra that was included in the package.

“It’s these little things that are making such a difference in people’s spirits,” Woykin said.

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Volunteers, including Joyce, with Langley Meals on Wheels delivered tulips with the Wednesday meals to their clients, thanks to an anonymous local donor. (Shannon Woykin/Special to the Langley Advance Times)


Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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