Volunteering

A few days ago I just finished a volunteer shift at the Calgary Reads Big Book Sale, an amazing event held every spring for the last over a decade. A wonderful group of volunteers collects over 200,000 donated books, then sorts them for the sale, all the proceeds going to programs for children’s literacy and all completed within a few weeks. As a former operations director and long-time volunteer, I can fully appreciate all of the planning, organization and management that goes into this phenomenal event. For the cost of 4 or 5 brand new books, you can fill a canvas wagon full of used books, a literal treasure hunt, and saving tons from ending up in land fills.

My daughter and me at Calgary Reads

The first time I volunteered for anything I was actually “volun-told”.  We grew up in the country, and our family business was a sport and fix it garage, surrounded by farms growing everything from tobacco, strawberries, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, you name it. Our little shop was like a country general store but for lawn mowers, boat motors, tractor repairs and every kind of tire you could think of. Every year we would host a corn roast in late August usually the weekend before Labour Day completely open and free to anyone. This was waaaaayyyy before the internet, but it didn’t seem to matter, people somehow knew when to show up. My volunteering started days before. Local farmers donated the potatoes and corn – the ugly, bruised or cut veggies that they couldn’t sell but we didn’t care. My job was to peel and cut potatoes for potato salads and shuck corn – hundreds of cobs of corn. But since I spent days doing prep, the day of the roast I was free to grab my corn, butter it up and disappear with the other teens not really interested in hanging with their parents.

It seemed like an annual annoyance when I was a teen, but looking back as an adult I realize just how much people looked forward to the corn roast. Hundreds of people showed up. The cost to my family was minimal as most of the food was donated. Yes there was a lot of work involved, but I also remember there was this team of (mostly) ladies, that would magically swoop in and our kitchen would be swamped with chopping and chatter and in one day all those potatoes turned into salads, boards and cinder blocks and red check tablecloths (where they came from was a mystery) turned into super long tables. Christmas lights strung between the trees, lawn darts (remember those!?) and a couple of fire pits with marshmallows and sharpened sticks made for a magical evening. Most of the people who showed up were friends and neighbours, some were customers of the garage, and some were complete strangers, whom we never saw again, but all were welcome.

Something about this giving back to the community must have really stuck as since then I have volunteered with countless organizations and events. Some roles I volunteer at every week (you can find me regularly walking rescue dogs at AARCS), some like the Big Book Sale once a year, and every once in a while at an event that I stumble across as a one-off, like face painting at a school fair, or teaching kids how to knit at a weekend camp, or slinging pancakes at a community centre breakfast. Its a lot of work that somehow doesn’t feel like work.

Its hard to tell but we are singing the song of his people - AAWOOOOO!!!

Knitting is my first ‘go to’ activity as it is way more than a hobby, an ever-changing constant in my life, keeping me grounded and engaged, but I’m going to say volunteering is a close second. Like my knitting, my volunteering adventures have changed over the years, going from kids’ teams bottle drives and judging pumpkins, to feeding the homeless and helping dogs find their forever homes. Volunteering helps connect with your community, learn new skills, meet like-minded people, step out of your comfort zone and make a difference in the world, no matter how small. Both knitting and the people I meet volunteering inspire me to keep learning, try new things even if they’re scary and that its okay to not be perfect. So the next time you think, nah that cable pattern is way too hard, just imagine how much harder it is to pick the winning fall fair photo as a row of expectant 8-year-olds are staring at you oh so intently…

Volunteer. Its so worth it.