An anonymous stranger recently made the day for a group of seniors on an outing to a local restaurant by leaving $100 behind with wait staff to help cover the bill.
On May 22, a small group of residents from Extendicare Mapleview was on a weekly excursion with Recreation Department staff and family members, said Victoria Grandinetti, activity aide at the long-term care home.
”It's just an opportunity for the residents to get out for the staff to bring them out into the community so that we can interact with the community,” said Grandinetti.
Outings are held at places like the mall or restaurants. On this day, the group booked the ParaBus to take residents for lunch at the Husky House Restaurant on Trunk Road.
The residents, most or all of whom are on a fixed income, will usually cover the cost of their own food on these outings, or have that cost covered by an accompanying family member. Grandinetti said this time something different happened once it was time to settle up.
”By the time we had asked for our bills, that's when the waitress told us the gentleman who was sitting next to us left $100 to go towards the residents meals,” said Grandinetti. “She was just happy to tell us and share the news because of how excited the residents got.”
The anonymous donor left enough to bring down the cost of the outing significantly for those residents.
”He was already gone at that time, so we couldn't thank him personally, but the residents were all so happy and shocked that someone would just do this out of the goodness of their heart,” said Grandinetti.
”It was just so respectful,” said Wanda McQueen, program manager for Extendicare Mapleview. ”It was very nice and we just want to say thank you.”