An elderly couple in our congregation had 2 bereavements in their family. They inherited from both members and felt they would like to share some out. They had an idea to cheer up a few in the congregations they knew who live alone and have been a bit isolated in the lock downs we have had for nearly 2 years now.
Quite a few eating places around here do deliveries of food. UK has a time in the afternoon called 'High Tea' or 'Afternoon Tea' when people socialize, but don't eat a meal, just snack with a cup of tea at home together or in a cafe. It was the fashion from the 1700s when tea was an imported luxury item for just when socializing, to set up High Tea as an opportunity at about 2/3pm to invite friends around and get out your best china tea service and decorate the table with your best linen cloth and napkins/serviettes and serve tea from a pretty teapot with cream/milk in a matching jug and/or sugar in a matching bowl and with it a tazza or stacked/tiered serving-plates with sandwiches on the bottom; scones in the middle; cakes on the top tier. You serve the scones with small pot of butter; small portion of jam/fruit jelly and a pot of clotted cream.
The elderly couple found a little hotel in the Lake District near us that did 'Afternoon Tea' but because of lack of trade because of Covid, could provide individual teas to be delivered in individual boxes. They asked 23 people who are alone in our congregation and some 'alone friends' from other congregations to meet up at 2 pm Saturday afternoon (via their zoom connection) , when most are at home. A paid for tea box would be delivered to most of them for that time. All they were to do was get their best cups out and set out a nice display at their table as if meeting up for tea and chat in reality. Those with special dietary requirements that can't eat bread/cakes/pastries were asked to provide their own food and were sent a lovely bunch of delivered flowers instead.
They also asked my elderly Dad (86)- he isn't a JW, just a favourable spouse who, in her declining years, wheeled my faithful mother to meetings in her wheelchair and been coming to meetings for Sundays since my mother died. Dad doesn't have internet, so I set the table at our house, with an inherited china tea service from my Grandma that he would recognized and we provided our own food for my husband and myself, so Dad had his box of goodies for himself.
23 zoom screens of old folks who are living alone were all there sharing and chatting. We were also divided off afterwards into smaller breakout rooms. They reminisced about what it was like in wartime - 2nd World War, not just about being Witnesses as children, but things my Dad understood - food rationing, being evacuated, hiding under stairs or in bomb shelters from night-time bombing raids. Dad was evacuated from his hometown as a child because Barrow was a shipyard town that was heavily bombed during that war.
Then they discussed how people entertained themselves before TV and internet took that over. We showed each other what china cups and saucers we had that were often inherited and mostly just displayed in glass fronted china cabinets or hidden in attics in boxes because most use coffee mugs to drink with these days. It was a lovely afternoon and there was so much food for Dad in the box that he could take home and keep in the fridge to nibble at further in the week.
We all sent thank you emails to the couple for a lovely time and we sent a bag of apples off our tree, so they've enjoyed apple pies since.