For 25 years Lillie Ganske has been a pillar of the Enderby and District Seniors Luncheon Buffet program, making sure nutritious meals are accessible to seniors younger than she is.
And on Wednesday, June 25, the 92-year-old Enderby woman was given a prestigious award for her decades of time and effort.
Ganske received the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteering at the Enderby Seniors Complex, where she's been a tireless and relied upon volunteer with the Luncheon Buffet.
The Sovereign's Medal for Volunteering replaced the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award in 2016. It's a national award that recognizes the achievements of Canadian volunteers across the country in a wide range of fields. It is the highest honour for volunteer service that a person can receive within the Canadian Honours System.
Ganske couldn't be in Ottawa to accept the award, and so there was no more suitable place to bestow it than the seniors complex, where she largely earned the achievement with her 25 years of service to the Luncheon Buffet, formerly known as Meals to Wheels.
"I just want to say thank you to all the special people I get to work with, the wonderful people I have met here, and the many friends I've made," Ganske said moments after the award was presented to her, to a crowd of red and maple leaf-clad attendees who returned her words of acceptance with rowdy applause.
"And if you want to meet a lot of wonderful people, please volunteer."
Ever humble, and with the silver medal pinned to her sweater, Ganske told The Morning Star that when she'd found out she'd won the award, her first thought was that "others deserved it better than I."
Try telling that to the rest of the Luncheon Buffet team, who miss Ganske dearly on the very rare occasion she isn't able to volunteer on a Wednesday.
Former Enderby mayor Sue Phillips, with the seniors society, told the crowd Ganske started volunteering with the Luncheon Buffet in 2000 at the age of 67, and she's only missed volunteering with the program "a handful of times" since then.
Before that, Ganske was the editor of her school's newspaper. She won the first ever Citizenship Award at the Enderby high school, given out by the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire. She canvassed for March of Dimes Canada for 16 years, as well as for cancer, arthritis and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
As her children got older she threw her self into the Parent Teacher Association, Girl Guides, Canadian Girls in Training, the History Club, and taught Sunday school at St. Andrew's United Church, just a block over from the seniors complex.
"She was one of the crew that did take-home meals all through COVID," Phillips said. "Whenever there are special displays...Lillie's probably done them, and often with flowers from her own garden and materials purchased at her own expense.
"Lillie continues to be a vital part of our organization, despite being much older than the majority of the guests that we serve," Phillips added.
Ganske has no job description, said Phillips, as she's something between a Swiss Army Knife and a proverbial well-oiled machine.
"She just does it all. If something needs to be done, she quietly and efficiently goes about whatever task it is that needs to be done, and usually without asking anyone for help. You have to get up pretty early to get ahead of her."
Asked what's kept her volunteering for so many years, Ganske said it's the enjoyment she gets from the people she works with — "and it gets me out of the house."
The Sovereign's Medal is a rare honour. Only 61 people in Canada received the award this year.
