{"id":4280,"date":"2022-07-20T22:53:46","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T02:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/?page_id=4280"},"modified":"2023-08-04T14:24:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T18:24:01","slug":"altruistic-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/?page_id=4280","title":{"rendered":"“Altruistic Volunteers”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bacon Scrapins<\/em><\/strong> are the little bits of meat left in the greasy fry pan. They\u2019re tasty, but the \u2018nutrition\u2019 needs searching for. This tale is a <\/em>bacon scrapin<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The three of us were sitting on Pete\u2019s back deck reflecting on Canada Day as we had celebrated it in our \u2018nine-stop-signs-sized\u2019 community. The entire day\u2019s activities had been organized and carried out by volunteers within the community. All the formalities, entertainment, activities, food – everything – had been organized by volunteers.<\/p>\n

The day had started with informal pickleball matches. \u201cThe tables were overflowing with goodies,\u201d I noted, \u201cand even those who didn\u2019t want to play pickleball had brought chairs and were watching, commentating and snacking with enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jorge said, \u201cBefore the flag raising, I thought that the president spoke eloquently and with pride about Canada, noting its natural resources, long borders, the second-largest country in the world, and the accomplishments over the years by multiple Canadians – native-born and very recent arrivals. He recognized that the space we live on has been handed over, through many groups of people in the last 13,000+ years, we have a responsibility to care for it in our turn and pass it along safely to the next people who live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

I pointed out, \u201cThe community choir performed the National Anthem<\/em> and This Land is Your Land<\/em> with pride and gusto. Pete had played guitar and sung during the performance and so had a big grin on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scavenger hunt demanded creativity,\u201d Pete added with a smile, \u201cand the late afternoon potluck social was very well attended. There was lots of mixing of the new residents with the originals, getting to know names and appreciating each other\u2019s experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA full day of events all carried out by volunteers – and no fees charged to participate!\u201d I opined.<\/p>\n

Pete had apparently done some events searching and reported that \u201cCanada Day this year was celebrated by downtown Kitchener for FREE; Cambridge was FREE although they were accepting donations of any amount if you chose; there was a Canada Day Community Carnival at a church in Waterloo with a BBQ, popcorn, cotton candy, exotic animals, a rock wall, STEM boat races, face painting, balloons \u2013 all FREE; there was a July 1st<\/sup> Community Picnic at Waterloo Park with local artists, food trucks and giant games for FREE. The only place I know of that charged to participate was here in the township. They required $5 to let you in, and they had security to enforce whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a township-named event, held on township property, and they have Government of Canada subsidies and lots of businesses and service clubs sponsoring them, why do they need to charge $5 to get in?\u201d Jorge asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause this is not a Township event, although that\u2019s what the name leads you to believe.\u201d Pete continued. \u201cIt\u2019s run by a group that refers to itself as volunteers and gets the township park donated to it. Its website domain\u2019s official contact isn\u2019t a person\u2019s name, it\u2019s a mix of 26 letters and numbers @ domaindiscreet.com. The contact click button is to an email which is owned by a township councillor. The only volunteer identified by name on the website is the councillor, with a large personal picture and a 7-paragraph promotional biography as a business person – and a councillor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cdomaindiscreet.com? Discreet? Why the apparent need for secrecy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. People would have to call and ask the councillor, maybe? Might get an answer, maybe not? No response at all, to my requests, so far!\u201d Pete answered.<\/p>\n

Jorge summed it up, \u201cLook at the list of Canada Day events all over this area, with all the same or more events as in the township, and there\u2019s no compulsory entry fee. Is this group really doing this in the spirit of altruistic volunteerism as we have known it here? Do they present a public financial report, a fiscal reconciliation of all the exact dollars taken in, paid out and left over? Is there something else, maybe, motivating this business-like \u2018volunteer\u2019 organization?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pete observed, \u201cThe great thing about Canada Day, and every day, is we all have a chance to reconsider what democracy is, right now, in Canada. When we have multiple candidates presenting themselves for consideration in any election, it provides a better choice. Sometimes the ones we\u2019ve got are not the ones we really want or need anymore. If they are volunteering to serve, maybe we should check that they are serving with the same altruistic volunteer spirit that we have here in our little nine-stop-sign-sized community?\u201d<\/p>\n

We all three raised our brown-pop cans in unison and toasted, \u201cOut with the others. In with altruistic volunteers!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bacon Scrapins are the little bits of meat left in the greasy fry pan. They\u2019re tasty, but the \u2018nutrition\u2019 needs searching for. This tale is a bacon scrapin. The three of us were sitting on Pete\u2019s back deck reflecting on Canada Day as we had celebrated it in our \u2018nine-stop-signs-sized\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4072,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4280","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4280"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5880,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4280\/revisions\/5880"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisiswilmot.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}