On January 2, 2023, Mayor Galbraith and Council presented a Lifetime Civic Merit Award to Seng Phung. Seng, who is the longtime owner of Red Basket Foods (previously Red Rooster), recently sold the business.
Seng’s commitment to community has been longstanding and always evident. Mayor Galbraith paid tribute to Seng’s contributions as a local business owner and employer, as well as his role as a volunteer with the Enderby & District Lions Clubs.
While Seng may have retired from his business, he has not retired from being a volunteer. “With more time now, I am planning to spend more time with the Lions Club to keep myself busy,” he said.
In both roles, Seng has dedicated himself and his business to service, particularly with respect to food security and community events. Whether it’s a donation to a local food program or flipping flapjacks at a Lions pancake breakfast, Seng has always been there for the community.
Seng’s pathway that led him to Enderby started in Laos and Thailand, where he lived. “I’ve always been doing this, volunteering. Even back in Laos, where I grew up, and then in Thailand, from 1975 to 1979, before I came to Canada, I was doing a lot of volunteering. For the first ten years after I came to Canada, I did not do too much, until I bought the business here in Enderby. Then, Elmer Halvorson got me into the Lions Club, and it never stopped from there,” he laughed.
Seng looks back with fondness on his role as a business owner in the community and jokes that, in retirement, “I think that the hardest thing for me will be training myself not to get up at 2:30 in the morning anymore! But I think that, over time, I will get used to it.”
“I feel that there’s a need, no matter what type of volunteering you want to do. Just do what you can. You do it with your heart, and that’s it.”
A “Lifetime Civic Merit Award” is an award of Council bestowed on an individual who has, through their outstanding achievements and dedicated volunteerism, made a tangible difference to the community and quality of life. It is only awarded by unanimous vote of Council.
Mayor Galbraith expressing his appreciation for Seng’s contributions to Enderby
Last Updated on April 5, 2023.