Medical staff who work in the Langley Memorial Hospital ER and ICU ate well Saturday, March 28th, thanks to a donation of catered food by the Fraser Valley Volleyball Cub (FVVC).
“This is so sweet of you guys,” one LMH staffer said, as the meals, along with cookies and other snacks, were transferred from a pickup truck to a hospital dolly in the ER parking lot at 11:30 a.m.
FVVC executive director Carol Hofer, a Murrayville resident, made the delivery with the assistance of husband Ryan and son Zachary.
Hofer explained that when national volleyball championships were cancelled two weeks ago because of the coronavirus outbreak, teams were told to expect a refund of their $900 registration fees, and the FVVC teams decided to use the money to help hospital staff by bringing them food.
“This is just a small way we can help,” Hofer told the Langley Advance Times.
“If all of us do a little bit, it can make a big difference.”
Saturday, there were two deliveries, one in the morning for the day shift and one in the evening, for the night shift, to make sure every0ne was fed.
“Many of them end up doing double shifts,” Hofer commented.
Deliveries were also made on Thursday, March 26th and there were plans for more on Monday, March 30th.
Companies that are working with the club include the Ritz and Tastefully Your catering firms as well as Sammy J. Peppers restaurant.
Future deliveries will likely include “grab-and-go food like granola bars for the busy medical staff, Hofer said.
As well, the cub has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $10,000 to buy protective masks and a ventilator.
Entitled “FVVC Hospital Ventilator & Masks,” the campaign had raised just under $2,000 as of Saturday morning.
In her GoFundMe online message, Hofer explained that a former FVVC coach’s husband was an ER doctor who let her know that “they only have eight ventilators in the whole hospital and are at a critical stage for masks to keep their staff safe during this Covid-19 crisis.”
People who would like to help can email hofer@twu.ca.
Langley’s Pizza Mantra was planning to make a delivery to LMH on Sunday afternoon.
Mantra owner Hiten Gupta called it a “small token of appreciation.”
“We are seeing the community reaching out and trying to support our caregivers in anyway they can,” Gupta said.
“The community is showing how much they appreciate everything the hospital team is doing to keep us all safe and to save lives.”
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