Creating Community and Volunteering In Calgary
Alberta has seen so much rain this past month that it has caused the worst flooding the province has ever seen. It has devastated cities, towns, communities, neighbourhoods and families. I’ve been on of the hundreds of thousands who have been evacuated from their homes during this past week. I live in the Mission area in Calgary which is one of the hardest hit areas. The area still has no power and my building has been completely flooded. It could take weeks or perhaps months before we might be let back into our units.
I truly believe that there is always a positive or “silver lining” behind anything tragic or devastating. When I went down to my neighbourhood to volunteer and saw the amount of people helping out and giving of their time it was truly remarkable. I only saw a few neighbours I recognized; most were from other parts of the city there to help and do anything they could to give back as they knew they happen to be one of the lucky ones that weren’t affected.
The amount of people there helping clean up the devastation was fantastic. I’ve never seen so much community support especially in such a large city. There is well over a million people that live and call Calgary home. Local companies making donation both with money and supplies. Rona had donated shovels and pails to help with the cleanup. Seeing little kids and their moms offering homemade ham and turkey sandwiches to everyone there was very touching. The amount of community food and people bringing food to each of the affected neighbourhoods was overwhelming. Volunteering in Calgary has had such a profound impact and most Calgarians are so giving of their time and money.
Volunteering was open to anyone and all you had to do was come down to any of the affected areas and say I’m here to help! Which in many cases when it comes to volunteering there’s always way to much red tape to follow preventing more volunteers from helping. To me if anyone is wanting and looking to help they should make it as easy as possible to volunteer which in Calgary they did! I’ve never been so moved and felt such a sense of community and family from living in such a urban metropolis before. I had complete strangers offering their homes if I needed a place. They amount of support and people asking and willing to do whatever to make sure you were okay was heartwarming. In a time where loss and devastation has affected many here in Calgary including myself and I will remember the sense of community, the volunteers and all the help and support the city of Calgary and its residents have given me and others in the same situation. I’m very proud to call Calgary home .
