I spent a few weeks on an extended holiday to the home of my daughter and son-in-law, who reside in Medicine Hat, Alta.
The weather was spring-like the whole five weeks I was away. Tulips were up and shrubs were in bloom. My son-in-law started golfing mid-March.
Among the interesting people I met was a lady whose job at a local funeral parlour was to take mourners to the viewing of their loved ones either prior to or on the day of a funeral. The funeral home has several rooms for this purpose.
A man and his wife who visited belonged to the Gleaners Society, which is a Christian-based organization that provides dried vegetables for needy people in Canada and overseas. Local farmers donate their harvest from a certain number of acres to go to this worthy cause. Main crops that grow well in this area are beans, peas, lentils and corn. Local greenhouses also donate vegetables suitable for drying. On the edge of the city is a large warehouse where all the preparation is done - drying, packaging, and sent wherever the need is. This is where a number of volunteers come in. The project is completely manned by volunteers without any government assistance money or work. Cash donations to this worthwhile project pick up the cost.
My daughter also helped out with another worthwhile cause manned by volunteers providing nutritious lunches for school children who would otherwise have no meal. They gather at a kitchen in a local church at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. For the last five years the 15 volunteers, sometimes more, plus one paid food bank who looks out for good meat prices, provided the meals. Monday, Wednesday and Friday sandwiches and fruit are prepared. Tuesday and Thursday, sandwiches and vegetables are prepared. Sobeys supplies bread at half price. Sandwiches are made of meat and cheese or pea butter and jam. Pea butter, made from peas grown in Quebec, comes in five-gallon pails and is good for children with allergies to regular peanut butter. Taste, colour and consistency is the same as regular peanut butter. Fruit day includes apple or oranges and yogurt. Vegetables donated by local greenhouses and stores are peppers, cucumbers, small carrots and small tomatoes in season. Teachers send lists of how many lunches are needed. Needs of the pupils are recorded by the teacher according to parents’ income and circumstances.
Corporations donate money for purchasing supplies, bags for sandwiches, fruits and vegetables. Several companies send a volunteer to help with preparation of these lunches. Workers wear rubber gloves and hairnets. Some schools pick up their lunches and some are delivered to the school by volunteers.
The one we worked, we filled 302 lunches. The day before they filled more than 400 lunches. That's another worthwhile project manned by volunteers.
The volunteers are mostly people who are retired from the workforce and still need to feel needed and feel good about themselves.
Next week I will write about what happened at the Maidstone Drop In Centre when I was away.
