Volunteering for Community BBQ

I've always loved volunteering! Once I received the email from South Burnaby Neighbourhood House asking for volunteers to help with the community BBQ, I signed up!

I was assigned to help with preparing food along with some other girls. Preparing trays filled with chips wasn't hard at all. However, I had to be fast because people come and go quickly, and we had a long line-up.

Other than BBQ, they had various activities going on such as face-painting, balloon-twisting, soccer, and wall-painting. In fact, a group of volunteers were high school kids. I really admire that they would take their time to volunteer even though they don't benefit much from it other than helping others. I thought teenagers would rather do something else on their own. I guess I was wrong!

Why do I love volunteering?

Meet people

Volunteering is a kind of networking, just without the business suits. It's less formal, but you can still make connections with people you never met before. To me, meeting new people is a way to get out of my comfort zone. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who doesn't feel comfortable in an unfamiliar surrounding. However, it's always a good start to get used to the feeling and practice on your networking skills.

Participate the Event

As a volunteer, you're helping and you're participating the event for FREE. Oftentimes, the organization would provide food and drinks to appreciate the help of the volunteers. Not only that you can go around the place, enjoy the music, learn more about the culture if the event is based on a foreign tradition, and have a further understanding of the organization.

Feels GOOD

Don't you feel great when you know there are something you can do to help others? When I see people's smiles on their face and joy in their eyes, I know it worth my while volunteering there. When you are making a positive impact, no matter how small it is, you're happy that you spent the time and energy.

 

 Kids painting the wall