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Eunoia
UNLESS SOMEONE LIKE YOU CARES A WHOLE AWFUL LOT, NOTHING IS GOING TO GET BETTER IT'S NOT - Dr. Seuss
The Power of Volunteering
The Power of Volunteering..
Part 1 - Amazing Connections
I was attending a Gateway to Trades program at Okanagan College, Penticton campus, when I became friends with the tool room guy, Mike.
Mike is an awesome guy.
He gifted me a cool rock from Hawaii so I gifted him a beaver skull. He told me the biology professor has an amazing collection and we should connect.
So we did.
Sharon has such an impressive collection she turned it into a museum. I donated a few tanned hides to the collection.
One day she tells me of a project the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations is working on. They needed volunteers!
With great joy I leapt at the great opportunity to help take DNA samples from roadkill specimens alongside other biologists, park rangers, and other outdoor specialties.
As a side note, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Development is a really amazing place. It's as though all the great minds who decided they care about a specialty so much they would dedicate their life to it. Ya those people all sit under one roof in little cubicles studying data. There's even science labs in there! Get excited people! Every time you float down the Penticton Channel give a salute to the scientists working tirelessly for us, the wildlife, and the ecosystems in which we live.
My information was forwarded to the Kelowna Museums as they were needing someone with my skill set. I've been working for the last 8 years now making art to enhance their Small Mammals of BC Education Program.
The money to fund the nonprofit organization I started, Outdoors Okanagan Society. Which by the way has been dissolved several years. I do not have charitable status nor am I a business.
Just a person like you.
If you noticed this story began with me going to school to try and get better at trades work.
Back to it...Then one day I'm told there's funding to do more roadkill sampling. I got the job!
It was one of the best experiences of my life.
I was a
SCIENTIST
Keep in mind this all started by having nice conversations with nice people, and being available to help when someone needed it.
If you want something out of the ordinary you have to do something out of the ordinary.
Get CONNECTED
Part 2 - Connecting a Community
I was looking for a rental in Kelowna and noticed Hiawatha Trailer Park advertised affordable rent. When we first drove in we were surrounded by police tape, flashing lights, and a neighbor who had pulled his couch out on the lawn to watch the activities.
The night prior a woman had been murdered by her ex fiancée. Despite the trailer walls being thin enough to hear the voices of parents echo in the day, no one called the police that night.
I decided to move there anyways as affordable housing is a rarity. It turned out the woman who was murdered was related to a friend of mine and she had been tasked with emptying the possessions.
I was just moving in across the way so I kept a lot of her possessions. I don't know if it was sleeping in her bed at night or the fact that my kids and I love playing by creeks, but we took action.
Faith moves people to action.
We adopted the creek.
The City of Kelowna put up a sign in memory of Amy Jane Parkes.
We created beautiful gardens for her we cared for in our time in Kelowna.
In doing so we brought together the good element of a community that was otherwise known to have a terrible reputation and for good cause. So while the police were still being called and people were still fleeing over fences at the sound of sirens, we were down by our creek having wonderful family time and getting all the neighborhood kids to help.
This also led to a lot of side benefits like a thank you letter from the City of Kelowna, gifts and flowers from the local businesses, the thanks and praise of you the residents, a beautiful gold embossed letter from the Lieutenant Governor of BC (that was special!), and the best of all, life long friendships with good people. My people.
That is the power of getting CONNECTED!
Find your people!
Other Community Opportunities
Allen Brookes Nature Center
Fishing Forever - Lumby Fish & Game Club
Yellow Fish Road Program
Creating museum exhibits with the help of the Monashee Arts Council
Creating props for locally filmed movie - The Recall
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