On a chilly Saturday morning, Kerri Workman and Malcolm Eyjolfson spent their time delivering sanitized Easter dinner packages and shovelling walks.
It’s making a hard day a little brighter.
“People say it gets easier every year, but we just get through it,” Eyjolfson said.
The couple’s son, Bryce Eyjolfson, passed away when he was 11 years old.
April 10 would’ve marked the young man’s 17th birthday.
“He was a very generous soul,” Workman said. “He’d bring his money to different Christmas campaigns and during the flood, he was right by our side volunteering.”
This year, his parents have decided to honour him by donating five full Easter dinners to Calgarians in need – whether they’re in isolation, sick, or have simply fallen on hard times.
The care packages included turkeys, bread donated by a local bakery, vegetables, stuffing, gravy and desserts.
“I can’t go anywhere or do anything,” recipient Teri-Lee Isaac said. “I was down to my last can of soup.”
“It just goes to show when the chips are down, everybody kind of sticks together and does as much as they can for each other. It’s incredibly heartwarming.”
While the couple’s work has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as well, they hope other Calgarians will pass on acts of kindness too.
“I don’t think we need a pandemic to spread kindness,” Workman added. “I know there are always ways to volunteer and give back despite COVID-19. There’s always something to give and do.”
To maintain social distancing, Workman and Eyjolfson have been dropping off the care packages without directly meeting many of the people they’ve helped.
On Saturday, decked out in their personal protective equipment, they got to speak with Isaac and another recipient, Karl Woodlock, about spreading hope in Bryce’s memory.
“It’s so sad that he’s not with us and with his family and I can only imagine how hard that must be,” Isaac said. “The honour of being the recipient of such a sweet, wonderful gift in the name of Bryce is unbelievable.”
In years past, family and friends would visit a special bench to remember Bryce on his birthday.
Now, they’ve added a new tradition they know he’d be proud of.
“Everybody who knew him knew exactly what he would do,” Eyjolfson said. “If he was alive, he’d be right along with us.”
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