Checker Cabs driver Iqbal said that it all started with his old customers.

“As time went on, I found that they were not doing well,” he told reporters Calgary is an eye-opener on Monday. “Then I told them,’From now on, I will buy your groceries because you [don’t have] A lot of energy is left. “

He said that as the elderly began to talk to each other, there were only two or three customers at the beginning.

Donate their time

The operation now serves 20 to 25 people, and keeping everything in order is no small feat. Within a week, Mumtaz accepted phone orders and tracked them in a spreadsheet.

During the weekend, they requisitioned as many as 8 shopping carts and set up a designated cash register in Superstore. They will stay there for two to three hours and then head to several specialty grocery stores. Then Iqbal delivered and opened everything.

Most weeks don’t end the day until 7pm, but they provide the time for free.

Iqbal, 70, only charges what he pays for groceries. “But my service, my gasoline during the day, I don’t charge anything.”

Their sons Faisal Alimohd and Yasin Alimohamed started helping to run a grocery store during the pandemic so that their parents would not have to spend too much time in public. They feel that their father’s weekly tradition has always been a part of their lives.

“It’s such a big promise. Whenever we want to travel or go anywhere, he would say,’Well, what are my seniors going to do on Saturday?'” Faisal recalled.

But this is what they are looking forward to every week now.

Not just groceries

Yassin said that delivering groceries was only a small part of what Iqbal did.

“I think the remaining impact is much greater,” he said. “He became a member of their family.”

Iqbal spends hours socializing with seniors, driving them to dates, and helping him as much as he can. This has always been something he kept silent.

Faisal said that until they heard letters from seniors or their children or received thank-you letters, they didn’t realize how much they had to do besides buying and shipping groceries.

Sometimes, he said, some older children told him, “Your dad is always there when we can’t go.”

Karim Merali is one of these children. Iqbal delivered groceries to his parents. When Merali’s mother died five years ago, Iqbal visited or called his father almost every day.

“He knows when people need some company,” Merali said.

Charity

Yasin said his father firmly believed in “work without words.”

“He won’t seek anyone’s gratitude or pat him on the back.”

He said that the act of good faith made his father “understand why he is here.”

Yasin and Faisal said that Iqbal may be embarrassed by the attention he received, but they were happy that he was recognized.

“In a sense, this is exciting, and I hope others can accept it [and] Pay in advance,” Faisal said.

Documents from Jennifer Dorozio and Calgary is an eye-opener.