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President's Update - July 2010
September
18th will be a very interesting day in Edmonton with almost 100
community leagues across the city, Meadowlark being one of them, showing
off what they do and celebrating the city’s volunteer spirit with the
first ever Community League Day. Yes, you read that correctly, VOLUNTEER
spirit.
In
the last few years, in my dealings with community leagues across the
city, what always seems to be the biggest misconception is that
community leagues are run by the city or paid staff. That is in error.
Community leagues are owned and operated by dedicated volunteers that
live in the neighbourhood and care about their community. The halls,
programs, rinks, soccer teams, parks, playgrounds and many other
activities are all run by volunteers. They are usually run so well that
many people think that it must be operated by some professional company
or by city employees. But this is not the case. It is run by people
who care. All the people that manage the day to day operation of our
community league are volunteers who only do this because they want to
make our community a better place to live.
One
of the best ways to thank all these great people who donate their time
and effort is to come out and enjoy the events that are being put on by
the league. Come out and enjoy our “community carnival” on September 18th.
Bring the kids and a neighbour! It is fun! We will be having games for
all ages, lots of fun, food and prizes. This is one of the best way to
support your community and it’s volunteers. A successful event makes
everyone feel happy.
Another
way to thank our great volunteers is not to take advantage of the
goodwill that they bring in volunteering. As mentioned earlier, running
the community hall is 100% volunteer. So when anything is damaged or
dirtied in the hall it is your friend and neighbour that ends up having
to clean it up. I have seen volunteers out first thing in the morning
washing graffiti from the hall and playground. I have also seen a
neighbour cleaning up sod and building materials from around our garbage
bin as someone just dumped it in front. Remember if you do this to
your own neighbourhood, it is a neighbour and maybe a friend that has to
clean up after you, not the city or a waste company. This does not
encourage people to volunteer.
Our
community league is one of the best because of the people who live in
it and because of the people who step forward to help make it even
better. Come out to the carnival on September 18th to meet some of them
and celebrate our community spirit. And for the rest of the year
remember that only together do we make this a great community.
Thanks for your continuing support,
David Gibbens
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