Blazing Sun & a SHARE bear =)

People from the North, how was Canada Day (July 1)? I had a great time yesterday, thanks to the awesome sunny weather. Yes, I love the sun because it reminds me of home. After that day I got really tanned and I'll probably be even more tanned when I go back to Malaysia in two weeks.

Anyway, the Canada Day celebration was even better than last year's! I have to agree! The setting was more spacious, it was a good thing that the Lafarge organization expanded the event area from the field all the way to the playground and a big part of the parking lot of the Town Centre Park. There were even more activities especially sports (volleyball, tennis, skateboarding, dodgeball, hockey, rock climbing). And due to the intensive heat, I had to quench my thirst with a can of iced tea and a big cup of lemonade. There were this huge number of kids who crowded around the new spray park which was located next to the playground.

This summer, I volunteered for this organization called SHARE Family and Community Services. I was out the whole day actually. I dropped by at the Canada Day celebration after lunch to walk around, and then I rushed to a church sister's house for a video training conference. And then as the message was finished, I rushed back to the park for my volunteer shift. By the way, thanks to the church sister who had prepared a couple of delicious sandwiches for me! It was a good dinner, I felt God's love through her. =) Anyway, when I arrived at the SHARE booth, my leader Michelle Murray (yes, another Michelle, but hey my name has only one "L") and her colleague (I don't know her name =/) were talking to a couple of passers-by. The colleague was relieved when she saw me and immediately packed up her foldable chair. Michelle finished talking and sat on her chair, looking pretty tired. She told me that no other volunteers showed up that entire day! I was the only one who came! I was like...WHAT??? How could they ditch this? So Michelle had no choice but to call her colleague to help out with the booth from 11am till that hour I arrive (6pm). I felt sorry for the colleague, she had to guard the booth all day.

Michelle and I guarded the booth for an hour. She had to grab dinner for a short while, so she left me with the booth. I didn't know much about SHARE but I tried my best to answer questions in case people drop by at the booth. Some did came by, but they just looked at our display of food collections for homeless people and walked off. When my leader returned with a Mike's Burger, a couple of Chinese kids came with their mother. They were eyeing on a pile of SHARE bear printouts (the SHARE bear is the organization's mascot) and crayons on the right side of the booth. We didn't mind let them do some colouring. Michelle explained that they had this colouring contest earlier that day and they pinned colourings at the top of the tent. There were a few more kids dropping by just to colour.

And then, we decided to close the booth down. I helped Michelle to take down the colourings and the crayons as well as tearing down the plastic tablecloths. The thing was, we supposed to have one more volunteer to help us with the unloading. However, he didn't show up. Michelle was disappointed; she was worried that we couldn't carry all of the stuff at once. She then seek help from one of the Coquitlam community centre volunteers to send a buggy cart for us. Michelle had to drive her car to a certain parking area and wait for me with her stuff on a cart which was a little troublesome but it was the only way. I was stuck there for half an hour or so, waiting for a buggy cart to the rescue. I had to hear a performance from a Korean drum academy at one stage and some random rock band from another stage (by the way the music was awful, I would rather listen to Daughtry). The volunteer came to me again and explained that two of their buggy carts broke down, so I had to wait for an available cart to come. After a few minutes, a buggy cart came and carried all of Michelle's stuff on it's trunk. This was my first time riding on a buggy cart, actually! And I loved it! I was sitting on the passenger seat with wind blowing against my face as the driver drove down the stone path. I felt like a VIP or something! We arrived at the parking lot where Michelle waited next to her car. She was thankful on how patient I was for waiting that long. Tough luck, I must say... She also said that the other volunteer just called her, apologizing that he could't make it because he fell asleep. LOL...

By the way, Michelle told me that she used to blog! She used to have a food blog, but she felt that she didn't have the creativity to write. It's true that being a writer takes creativity, but I don't think she should give up on blogging. Blogging is all about passion on certain subjects and expression on oneself. I think if a person has the determination to share her words with people online, he or she will eventually gain confidence in writing more.

A temporary, washable tattoo I got that day. I removed it before I went to bed. 

SHARE information on display..

Overall, the volunteering was a good experience. I get to know a little bit of my leader, including on how she started volunteering at SHARE before working full time with this organization. I guess communication does bring people together, even though I can't think of hundreds of questions like most people do. I can't wait for the rest of summer, especially my flight back home in two weeks! Say hi to my little SHARE bear plush toy here! I haven't had a plushie for years after I gave them up when I was 11! Speaking of bear, we had our bear mascot that walked in the Canada Day parade that morning, and the person in the costume was exhausted because he gave hugs to almost all children who watched the parade. Like I said, it's a bear and it needs hugs! I wish this plush bear would be bigger so that I can cuddle it. XD See you in the next post!