Volunteering & Volunteer Students

I thought I would do a brief update of this week. Who am I kidding, this is me, it won't be brief, but I will try to keep it down, and there are pictures, and I hope it is somewhat interesting and....maybe an inspirational thought. Lets start there, and work back. The sermon today was about having a calling. How many of you have heard the expression, 'I would rather burn out, than rust out'. Well, with the stuff I have done this week, many would have burnt out by the fourth day. I will admit, I was thoroughly exhausted last night and thankful I can rest today. Anyway, we were given a definition today, of a Calling:

• The place in the world where, when you offer healing, your soul is also healed.

I won't pretend to know where my soul is broken, but I do know that despite the busyness of some activities, I am exhilarated when doing them. I would say that if you have noticed this phenomenon, you too have been called to the task. I love blogging and here is why; I can read about all the awesome things others are doing and be amazed at their energy and tenacity, at doing the things that would drag me to the depths of the ocean. I can blog about things that give me energy and that I find fun, and have people comment with admiration. Now who couldn't like that! I also know that people blog to heal themselves, and in doing so are doing a huge service in helping others. What I mean is, you guys are great. And, I also want you to know, that when telling you about my crazy life, the payoff is usually in what I am doing and it isn't that big of deal for me. There are times, I do get bogged down by my schedule one week or two in a row, then things settle down. Sometimes it is lack of planning, but more often it is commitments I make months in advance, that then happen to fall at the same time, and then something else happens too. I am sure everyone has experienced the same thing at times. So here are the updates of the week.

Food Bank Drive: Last week we did the annual food bank drive in St. Albert. Our church organizes it every year, and this was the 15th year. This year was the biggest ever. At last count, there was more than 3800 pounds of food collected, and still counting. It was an awesome year and it was so great to be a part of it. The people of St. Albert are truly generous. One place we stopped, there were a couple of cases of cans, plus a bag full. A couple places there was more than one bag. It is so awesome to be part of something so big that will help so many people.

Thursday Thirteen: I missed something in my TT (scroll down). I didn't mention how I look forward to the food bank drive and to City Slickers, which usually fall close to the same time, sometimes a day apart. They are the two big volunteer things the kids and I participate in. We do smaller (shorter time commitment) things during the year, like foyer lunch for church, I man the library at church once a year, and the stuff we do for our home school group, like picking up things (like the soccer balls on Tuesday) and organizing field trips. And, there are the things we do just like everyone else, where we help out friends, family members and/or complete strangers out of compassion and need.

Here is a photo of our pond from the other evening when I was bringing in the laundry. The reflection of the one golden tree struck as one of the beauties of fall.

City Slickers: I posted about the workings of City Slickers on Tuesday (scroll down below TT), so here, I will post some photos and talk about it's success. There were 1100 kids who partook this year in City Slickers. It was the biggest event yet, in the 9 years it has been running. The volunteers are awesome, and the organizers are beyond belief. The schedule was great, and the people so wonderful. To make it even better, the weather was cooperative. It wasn't too cold, and it didn't rain.

The pavilion is a big quonset. Here is Stella, volunteer for our station every year, and Z and C (their second year volunteering at City Slickers). The second photo is the display I had. It isn't much, but the kids really don't have time to look at it anyway because they go through the station so quickly. These photos were taken before the kids arrived, and it was pretty cold in the building at the time. To our right, we always have a couple of guys talking about dugout safety. In previous years, there have been two guys, and they have a slick board (about 6 feet long) set up at a 45 degree angle like a ramp. The kids each get one turn to try to get to the top. It is to show how dangerous man made dugouts are on farms, because you can't get up the side. Anyway, it is very loud and it is terribly distracting to the students at my booth. This year only one of the guys came so he didn't bring the ramp. I was very happy about that. The two of us had a brief talk with the next year's organizer. We want him put in the corner so he can't distract anyone. I will still visit the two of them, just to say 'thanks for moving'. So we may end up with a new neighbour next year. The girls are hoping for these characters:

I wouldn't mind them either. They were so cute. There was a baby one too, who loved attention. This booth had goats milk products and a display board of different breeds of goats. They didn't smell too bad, not like these two:

They were at one end near some doors. These poor beasts are probably part of the food chain as I type. Sorry people, it reality. Baccooonnn....! They brought in these characters because they were ready for market. There are laws about pigs going back to the farm after being exposed to children. You laugh, but I kid you not. The Pork Producers have brought in piglets before, but they can't take the piglets back to the pork producer farm, so they have to find homes for future bacon on other farms. A big headache for the pork producers. Other exhibits in the pavilion were, Beef Producers, Turkey Producers, Sheep and Wool, Milk Producers, Egg Producers, Barley Producers and many more.

We had 5 groups come through in the morning. The first group was late and missed, so we gave them the supplies when they asked. We had 5 groups go through in the afternoon, so we had about 230 kids total go through our station for 15 minutes at a time. I talked for 5 minutes (my voice was strained for sure, by the end) and then they made the book marks we had prepared. I left the sample at work without taking a photo, so I will get a photo and post it next week.

Here is a group around the tables putting together their bookmarks. Some of the groups had as many as 27 kids. We had one with 14 kids. The kids really liked the craft. It is easy to do in this environment, because there is no instruction needed and at the grade 4/5 level, most kids still like stickers and enjoy doing a 2 minute craft.

When it was all over, we cleaned up and had pizza. Here is the line up for the pizza (there are 3 tables) and the second photo is the volunteers sitting around visiting while feasting on pizza.

We were fortunate to get some straw out of the deal. One of farmers donated straw for one of the outside stations. At that station, the kids in a group were divided into 2 teams and had a straw bale stacking race. The farmer didn't want to take any home and the organizers didn't want to have to clean it up. Someone took 3 bales in her van.

We ended up with 12 and left 2 there. Here is Sirdar and T loading the truck. T had been out on the farm all day while we were at the pavilion. He did get to go out and work with the dog handler. He chose children to be pylons, and the dog herded sheep around the children in a figure 8. He had a good time and got a good lunch from the host farm, so he wants to go back next year. He got a ride back with Stella's husband. Tom is 80ish, and could run circles around the sheep dog. I have never seen a man at his age so hyper. At his age he is a joy to spend time with, but if he's like this now, I can't imagine him as a 4 year old. Anyway, he and Stella are doing so well at their age; they are an inspiration to all.

Before I finish, I have to tell you about Z's small mishap. She and C were such great helpers handing out stuff and picking up sticker paper. Toward the end of the last group, Z ripped her cuticle and it was bleeding. She asked me for a Band Aid which of course, I didn't have. So like every good parent of a 10 year old, I told her to suck it up. Now her finger has fallen off and I feel really bad. No..., I told her to go see the paramedics at the ambulance; that's why they were there. Truthfully, they were there in case of any serious ailments, but they had been looking pretty bored all day. So Z went out to the ambulance and asked for a Band Aid and they search and couldn't find one small enough, so they took a 3 inch square of 20 layer gauze and put that around her tiny finger. It looked hilarious. A little later while waiting for pizza the paramedic saw her and asked if she needed more tape. He took her arms and wrapped her in tape. I told you they were bored. C thought they were going to use all their tape up on Z, and not have any for a real emergency.

So, that was City Slickers this year. Afterwards, we did a couple errands, then I drove J and T out 30 minutes from town to a birthday party. I took C and Z to my parents farm not far from there. My parents were in town, and brought Chinese food for supper. We picked up J and T shortly after nine and got home at 10 pm, thoroughly wiped out. But, it was a good day. And..., I am glad I have today to relax.