Esquimalt, B.C. community volunteer celebrates 75th birthday by providing hundreds of meals for others
Greg never expected to be spending periods during his retirement wondering whether to buy food or pay rent.
“It’s a tough decision,” the 75-year-old says. “Keeping yourself alive or keeping a roof over your head.”
So you can image how Greg felt when he was offered the choice to get a free, hot lunch at a nearby community kitchen.
“Coming here is a lifesaver for me,” he says.
After a few years of being a Rainbow Kitchen guest, Greg decided to become a volunteer.
“What’s the use of being a couch potato?” Greg smiles. “When there’s a place like this you can help out.”
Greg’s been volunteering for more than a decade now, doing everything from tidying up the driveway to picking up produce donations.
“He’s a 75-year-old volunteer that comes every day,” Patrick Johnstone smiles. The executive director of the Victoria Rainbow Kitchen Society says Greg’s enthusiasm is infectious. “There’s no stopping his motivation to help.”
Even on his birthday, Greg stopped by to volunteer over the lunch rush.
“It’s kind of hard to think about yourself when people are in need,” Greg explains.
It’s also hard to believe what Greg requested for his birthday.
He asked for the team to make his favourite meal of Salisbury steak, garlic-onion mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. Plus an extra dessert.
“Oh yeah!” Greg says, mashing the potatoes. “It’s going to be good.”
But the thing is, the meals are not for Greg.
“He wants the community to feel loved,” Patrick says. “So he provides an entire meal to the community out of his pocket.”
Over the past two years, Greg saved what little he had so he could celebrate his day by serving about 400 others.
“It’s all his finances,” Patrick smiles. “It’s all his love and passion.”
Greg says his 75th birthday celebration has made his big heart feel overwhelmed, which is exactly what he’d hoped for. The best gifts you can receive, he smiles, are the most heartfelt ones you can give.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.