The Highwood Wildrose Constituency Association showed an abundance of generosity in downtown Okotoks yesterday afternoon by presenting three community service organizations with $5000 donations.

Luella Wojcik, coordinator for Okotoks Meals on Wheels, says this generosity will help their cause with operating expenses for at least a year or two, so they can continue to serve the Okotoks community.

"We deliver meals at lunch time to people who are unable to prepare food, mostly for elderly people," said Wojcik.

The $5000.00 donation will be split between the Okotoks and High River Meals on Wheels programs.

Jan Noad, volunteer for High River's Meals on Wheels, says the funds will go a long way to help both programs continue, as they typically don't fund raise.

"We do an average of 320-350 meals a month. It's five days a week, Monday to Friday, 52 weeks per year. So we do rely on volunteers, entirly," said Noad.

Wayne Anderson presenting a cheque to Meals on Wheels.

High River's Meals on Wheels delivers on holidays as well, while Okotoks Meals on Wheels takes those days off.

Kerri Wilkinson, Program Manager for the Foothills Regional Victim Services, says volunteers work very hard to fund raise for these programs, and this donation will be a significant help to fund the services they offer.

"We've done golf tournaments and casinos to raise funds, so donations like this are certainly very much appreciated," said Wilkinson.

Wilkinson says Victim Services volunteers go through extensive training to assist victims of crime or tragedy, and are partnered with the RCMP detachments throughout the MD of Foothills, as well as the northern end of Willow Creek. While about 60 per cent of their funding comes from grants, they still have an additional 40 per cent to come up with.

Dawn Elliot, Executive Director for Foothills Country Hospice, says the $5000 donation they received was not only a pleasant surprise, but a much needed contribution.

"We wre very surprised to get the call that we were receiving this lovely donation, it will go a long way towards helping us with various programs and things we need at the hospice," she said.

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