A not-so Blue Christmas

It has been another successful year of Christmas Day deliveries. Prepared by the team at the Newport Restaurant, a delicious, traditional turkey dinner was delivered by 55 volunteers to 106 clients. Jessica Atallah, following in the footsteps of her father Moe Atallah, has continued to generously provide the facility and staff to allow Meals on Wheels to deliver a warm meal and holiday greeting to clients on December 25^th. The Atallahs have been an essential part of the Meals on Wheels Christmas Day deliveries for over 17 years.

Over the weeks leading up to the special holiday delivery, a number of volunteers helped wrap and organize the gifts into routes as well as raise funds to help buy turkeys and gifts. Early on December 25^th, volunteers and staff arrived at the Newport Restaurant and prepared for the delivery teams.

The Newport staff were busy in the kitchen!

A heartfelt thank you goes out to all of our volunteers who came out on Christmas Day to deliver a special turkey dinner, a gift, and a friendly smile to our clients. For many isolated Meals on Wheels clients, this delivery is special as it reminds them that they are remembered, loved, valued, and cared for by their community.

In addition to all of our incredible volunteers, we would like to thank our generous sponsors. We could not have done this without their support. It is, year after year, incredible to see the number of community members who are eager to help us and bring a bit of Christmas joy to our clients.

Turkey and all the fixings generously provided by:

• Carol and Brian Waters
• The Elvis Sighting Society
• IODE Laurentian Chapter
• The Newport Restaurant

Other gifts and treats provided by:

• 131^st Ottawa Girl Guides
• 7Dental
• Kiwanis Club of SAGE
• Meals on Wheels staff and volunteers
• Ottawa Valley Quilters Guild
• The staff of the United Way East Ontario/Centreaide Est de L’Ontario

Thank you and we will see you again next year!