On Christmas Day, Langley Meal on Wheels will deliver Christmas meals to dozens of local seniors who would otherwise have a solitary Dec. 25.
MOW Executive Director Shannon Woykin said it will be the third year of the program. In the first year, MOW volunteers delivered holiday feasts to 40 clients, and that increased to 65 by the second year.
“The chef is prepared to make up to 150 [this year],” Woykin told the Langley Advance Times.
While they hope there won’t be that many people in need, “that’s what we’ll be prepared to do,” Woykin said.
“We have a conversation [with our clients] to see which seniors or clients are home alone for Christmas Day, and the ones that are staying home and having no one else around,” Woykin explained.
Meals are delivered around Christmas morning, along with gift bags from London Drugs.
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Woykin said it all started when MOW gained control of its own food, first renting a kitchen from a local church, then moved into its new home at 2900 272nd St. in Aldergrove, with the the volunteer-run Firehouse Cafe that has a professional grade commercial kitchen.
“We decided we wanted to start doing Christmas dinners for people who were home alone and the volunteers all wanted to show up and do it,” Woykin recalled.
“So we kind of have it as a bit of a lunch time [meal] and we deliver the turkey dinner. And now that we have a pastry chef, there’ll be a little special box full of some Christmas treats in there, too.”
“There’s no charge for this, this is just our Christmas spirit,” Woykin noted.
As well, Meals On Wheels will be catering a pre-Christmas dinner for clients at the Firehouse Cafe on Friday, Dec. 22.
Both the delivered Christmas meals and the pre-Christmas dinner have been underwritten by the Gulf & Fraser credit union.
Meals on Wheels will also be delivering Christmas dinners for the Alderhaven retirement home in Aldergrove.
Workin said they don’t need people to deliver the meals on Christmas, but they could use some help with meal prep.
“All of our regular drivers make sure they have time carved out to do that because they want to see their special clients too, so that part is always covered,” Woykin said.
“We’re never short of drivers for that day.”
But the week before Christmas “we’ll be very busy with prep. So we would welcome volunteers who would like to help prep or package up the treats or just assist the two chefs in the kitchen. That would be more hands, less load.”
Langley Meals on Wheels is a non-profit society that provides affordable menu plans and meal programs, serving fresh, wholesome meals delivered to clients homes.
For more information about MOW or to volunteer phone 604-533-1679 or email info@lmow.ca.
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