My step mom, a tremendous woman, used to regularly volunteer at a soup kitchen for drop-ins in need of a warm meal. She used to say "I do it for selfish reasons - it makes me feel good."
Of course, she was just deflecting, as many people who volunteer do, to humbly shun credit for a noble thing.
A common theme in the conversations and interviews I have done in the past week has been a line-up of people willing to give up some of their precious spare time, or in some cases, hundreds or thousands of hours of it, to better the community around them. And I'm not tolerating any deflection this week.
On Oct. 21, kids had their first chance to play, laugh and burn off some energy at the brand new accessible playground in Shirley Macey Park. The playground is just the first phase of an ambitious set of improvements soon to include accessible walking trails, an educational frog habitat and loads of other goodies. But it isn't the Sunshine Coast Regional District that gets to take credit for this - that goes to Sheila Cameron and Larissa Hsia Wilcock. The two have put "uncountable" hours into planning, fundraising and organizing other volunteers just so kids of all abilities can meet and play as equals. The two have managed to pull in over $300,000 in grants and door-to-door fundraising and call up dozens of people willing to spend their weekends doing manual labour.
Cameron described it as like working a full-time job and filling in free time with more work.
Another example to point to this week would be the work of Bill Beamish, already a volunteering giant with Habitat for Humanity, and also among the volunteers at Calvary Baptist Church who will be helping to run a drop-in centre for those in need. Because of Beamish and his core group of volunteers, people with nowhere else to go will have a place be warm, enjoy a hot meal and rest, out of the winter rain.
Another example this week was the SCRD's recognition of Harry Almond for his 22 years of dropping whatever he was doing to aid in the search and rescue of lost people on the Sunshine Coast. Lives have been saved because of Almond and the rest of the Search and Rescue volunteers over the years.
Why let governments have all the fun and credit when it comes to bettering our communities and the lives of our neighbours?
That's a question you could put to these people or the members of the 435 volunteer organizations on the Coast. They are spread out in all areas and fields - arts, culture, justice, sports, health, housing, animals, improving a neighbourhood, helping someone in need or simply offering support. Pick one. Hey, pick five. They'd love to have you, and the community loves you for it.
We could publish a column every week recognizing the improvements the Sunshine Coast has had that began at a dinner table and not a board table and we'd still never cover them all.
I don't doubt these volunteers are getting their share of back-pats from those they have helped and those around them, but Harry, Sheila, Larissa and Bill and all those who have volunteered with you - thank you very much. We love what you've done with the place.
