It all started when one girl friend told another about an elderly couple who shared a bowl of Cheerios each day to keep from starving because that’s all they could afford.
Well, Rose Halsall couldn’t stand by and do nothing and asked her friends to come together to provide groceries to seniors in need so that would never happen again.
“And that’s when we got connected to this angel,” Halsall said about Terry Runions, Better at Home coordinator for the Prince George Council of Seniors, who named the group the Grocery Angels.
Within the last 10 months there have been 87 Grocery Angels food deliveries made and 115 in total since the group's inception in July 2023.
In 2023 about 25 people donated a sustainable amount of money every three months to help fund the effort and now there are 50 donators to help seniors in need get the groceries they need. Runions makes the calls to the seniors to get their grocery list. That list is then passed along to the Grocery Angels shopping team that goes out to purchase the items and deliver them to those in need.
“Every cent that comes in for Grocery Angels goes to the cause because everyone volunteers,” Runions said.
The program has grown and now there are sponsors that make significant contributions, including NC Ron’s Towing that have been very generous in supporting the Grocery Angel’s in 2024 and now in 2025 with a monthly donation as well as another generous donation in December 2024. Load ’Em Up Contracting made a $3500 donation to the grocery angels in December, the Elks have made donations, Spirit of the North, while others have conducted food drives during the holiday season and those items have been directed not only to Grocery Angels clients but to the Kindness Nook where seniors in need can access much-needed necessities that are sometimes out of reach price-wise like adult diapers or nutritional shakes or some non-perishables to keep the cupboard from being bare.
Clients come from the many programs that are included under the umbrella organization, the Prince George Council of Seniors, that sees programs come to the aid of those in need including Better at Home, Meals on Wheels, Housing & Community Resource, Family & Friends Caregiver Support, Christmas Hampers, Friendly Visits and Friendly Phone Calls.
“Sometimes we’ve helped caregivers or a grandmother who takes care of her four grandchildren or a grandmother who gets visits from an adult grandchild with special needs and just recently we have accessed the hamper list from last Christmas and we’re going to see if there are people who are in need that way,” Halsall said.
“The Grocery Angels came up with this idea of going through the hamper list and what a great idea because they are all low income and they are all 65+,” Runions said.
As a result of food drive donations during the holidays there were some items that were plentiful, Halsall said. So those non-perishable items can be donated to those who will use them.
“This month is the first time we have reached out to those on the hamper list and we delivered to 13 people and two people from the list Terry has,” Halsall explained.
The items on those lists vary from person to person but sometimes there’s a commonality to those in need.
“This month so many people needed bread, carrots and potatoes,” Halsall said. “Very basic requests. Through this experience we certainly see a different level of need. There is one lady that we have delivered to four or five times over the last year and a half and every time her fridge is literally empty and that’s how we know she’s still struggling and other people might just need a top up. There was one lady we offered some extra Chef Boyardee and she said ‘oh yes, it makes me feel like a little kid when I eat that!’ And she was so happy to have it, we gave her two cans.”
Halsall always likes to share one story in particular that touches her heart.
There is one lady who always just got the bare necessities because she was on a fixed income. There were no treats, no special indulgences but one day Runions asked her out of the blue if there was a wish list item for her. A Hawaiian pizza was the prompt answer. Runions put it on her grocery list and when the Grocery Angels delivered the treat along with the basics it was met with delight.
“The lady hugged the pizza and thanked us so many times for the treat,” Halsall recalled. “I’ll always remember that look on her face when she realized the delivery included a frozen pizza with pineapple on it. She hadn’t had it for two years.”
That experience touched Halsall so deeply that she decided to share it with those who donate to the Grocery Angels.
“I send out a monthly newsletter and that way donators can see where their money is going,” Halsall said. “I try to tell a story about each delivery - sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re sad.”
“And people are always so grateful,” Carolyn Shannon, another Grocery Angel, said.
“We tell them that we get so much enjoyment out of it when they get overwhelmed. Some even say they don’t deserve it and of course they deserve it. They’re seniors who have worked hard all their lives.”
And it’s not just about the groceries. It’s about who delivers those groceries, Runions added.
“It’s also about the friendly visits that go with the deliveries,” Runions said. “It’s that human interaction and knowing that they are cared about.”
“And that experience is just as important to us,” Halsall said.
To find out how you can donate to the Grocery Angels cause or contribute items to the Prince George Council of Seniors Kindness Nook where personal hygiene products, non-perishable food items or even meal replacement drinks, can be donated, email [email protected] or visit the Seniors Resource Centre at 1330 Fifth Avenue.
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