They look normal. They dress normally. They speak normally.
They pay bills, buy groceries, and often have full-time jobs. They usually have families to look after, and friendships to maintain and nourish, especially at times like Christmas.
They rarely seek the limelight, their actions mostly go unheralded, and they don’t get paid.
But these people are special. They have a sense of public service and community pride that drives them to lead extraordinary lives outside the glitter of our celebrity culture.
They are the volunteers – the people who always manage to find the time and energy for a good cause. They are never too busy to lend a helping hand, never too poor to reach out to someone in need.
As the holiday season races towards us, there is increasing talk about Christmas spirit. Nothing embodies this spirit more than the volunteers who juggle their schedules to give Barrhead a Christmas to remember.
Take the Family and Community Support Services, which has several programs to keep stomachs full over the holiday and ensure no child goes without presents under the tree. The FCSS, of course, depends on donations of gifts, food and cash. But it is also reliant on volunteers to run the programs.
One of them is FCSS volunteer Janet Kaplan, who wants to assemble a group of up to 25 like-minded individuals to help out this season.
Kaplan is happy to offer her time, and FCSS executive director Linda Mueller knows better than anyone the value of such commitment.
“Janet typifies the type of spirit that I see in the whole community,” she says.
Then there are those who organize or help coordinate other marquee events – Friday’s Christmas Festival, for instance, with its dazzling line-up of floats that brought a carnival atmosphere to Main Street or the recent Pumpkin Walk that made for a spectacular Halloween. They, too, deserve huge recognition.
Of course, many volunteers display the same spirit throughout the year. You will find them at meetings of boards, councils and organizations like the Chamber of Commerce. You may see them among the ranks of the town’s firefighters.
Wherever there is a need, it seems, their face will appear. At Tuesday’s meeting of Barrhead County council two of the faces belonged to volunteer members of the Misty Ridge Ski Club, which is hoping to raise its profile and attract more people to the ski hill.
President Nellie Van Assen and secretary Berdien Van Leeuwen put their case with such enthusiasm that they appeared to win the hearts of the council.
Councillors agreed to loan the club $10,000, without interest, to cover start-up costs for the new season, extolling the spirit of volunteerism.
“Hats off to the volunteers,” said Coun. Darrell Troock.
Organizers of the 2013 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games hope to be declaring similar sentiments once the final medal is presented and the last candy wrapper cleared away.
They say an army of 800 volunteers will be needed to help ensure the event’s success. In other words, the future of Barrhead and Westlock is in their hands.
There is no doubt a desire to give back to the community comes from a wellspring of energy that improves everyone’s lives. So let us turn the spotlight today on our volunteers and ask them to take a bow.
Truly, it seems, there are angels among us.
