Rotarians with the Rotary Club of Haney have baked more than 1,000 cookies for seniors this holiday season.
Nine Rotarians, along with family and friends took over the Scout’s Lodge in Whonnock on Sunday, Dec. 14, to bake shortbread cookies.
The baked, “enough to provide 250 seniors with a bag of cookies and touch of handmade baking,” said Lurinda Rinehart, with the club.
The cookies were delivered to the Maple Ridge Seniors Society the following day, and will be distributed to seniors over Christmas at the activity centre in Maple Ridge.
This is the third consecutive year the Haney Rotary Club has baked cookies for seniors.
Maria Perretta, executive director of the Ridge Meadows Seniors Society, the cookies are a very important reminder that seniors are not forgotten this holiday season.
“These cookies may seem small, but to a senior who might be spending Christmas alone, they’re a reminder that someone is thinking of them,” explained Perretta.
“The Rotary Club didn’t just bake treat, they baked connection and care! For many of the seniors receiving the RMSS Seniors Helping Santa bags, that little package of homemade cookies is the sweetest proof that their community hasn’t forgotten them,” she added.
According to the club’s website, the club was started in 1952 by a group of local business and professional men sparked by William Park, a Pitt Meadows farmer, who had been Reeve of Pitt Meadows and had also served as president of the Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association.
Currently it’s Rotary members run a Lunch Bag Program which feeds 180 children for an entire school year. Every lunchtime, the club provides lunches that typically consist of a sandwich, granola bar, fruit, and a juice box prepared and delivered by their team of volunteers.
The club also hosts a charity golf tournament and an annual Ladies’ Night, to raise money for various local programs.
For more information go to: https://www.haneyrotary.org/.