Part 2 Postponed!

Hey folks...though I promised to blog about my afternoon at Norwood, I don't have time this evening as I still have yet to pack for the retreat!

Hopefully I'll have time and energy on Sunday when we get back...

United Way Financial Day of Caring

So I volunteered for the United Way Financial Day of Caring today. In total nine banks, totalling roughly 230 people volunteered at 29 agencies, working in various capacities from painting to sorting out clothes that are donated...I was lucky enough to be placed at Norwood Elementary to spend one on one time with some kids there.

The day started out with a nice breakfast buffet at the Telus World of Science. You would wonder why the United Way would spend their hard earned fundraised monies on such an occassion...seems like such a waste of funds right? Well, it turns out that this morning's breakie was paid for in collaboration between the banks...as a thank-you for the volunteers. Plus each financial institution had specialized shirts made (also donated by a branding/marketing company). So as I arrived, I was greeted with a welcome package along with a blue T-shirt (each shirt was colored to coordinate with your bank's colors)...so needless to say there was a sea of blue when I walked in (ATB Financial had a light blue shirt, RBC and BMO also had different shades of blue, whereas my shirt was more of a royal blue)...still, it was neat to see each FI identified by their bank's color.

After breakie, we had a group pic taken (in total, there was roughly 40 volunteers from CCS) which I'm sure each volunteer will get a copy of eventually...and then we were off to the races!

When I arrived at Norwood, there were also reps there from the other FI's. In total there were 9 of us at that school. How the program works is that the coordinator (Leigh) would round up children who normally wouldn't have a "mentor" and we would be working with them for the morning (we would be assigned a different child for the afternoon). The United Way funds Norwood quite extensively, as they were one of the first schools to start this mentorship program. I think roughly 50 schools in Edmonton now are part of this program.

We were told to encourage to read at least 1 book with the kid during our 1.5 hour session. My first gal, Cathy, was a bit older than the rest of the students Leigh brought in (Cathy is in Grade 5). Anyways, we filled in "Getting to Know You" worksheets and chit chatted a bit before deciding what we wanted to do (options included reading, playing games on the computer, playing board games, crafts, playing with Legos, etc.). In our "Getting to Know You" worksheet, one of the questions was "what is your worst subject in school?". I asked Cathy and apparently she doesn't get very excited over math...I told her art was always a dreaded subject for me...and you know what? I think to kinda "test" and "spite" me, guess what she chose to do as our activity?!? Yup...crafts.

The crafts that were set up included an option to fold a sailor's hat (which seemed sooo elementary to me, but then again, Norwood caters to kindergarten to grade 6) or to make a picture holder (the type with the mini clips where you stick pictures in). She opted to make the holder (thankfully, as I had skimmed the instructions and I don't think I would've been able to decipher them...many of the other volunteers failed at making the hat).

While making our separate holders we managed to chit chat. Cathy told me she lived close to the school (about 5 blocks away) and that most of the time she had to take her brother to school with her (he's in grade 2). She also told me that she had a stepsister who was 21 (who was "old" like me...geez...thanks)!

She told me it was tough to make friends as she was always moving around from school to school. She has been at Norwood now for 2 years, so she said it was kinda tough to make new friends. Leigh, the coordinator of this project, told us that Norwood is highly transient, with 80% of the students turning over in a year. She said this was due to the lower income families having to move due to circumstances. How sad is that??

Anyways, as I'm not gifted in art, it took me pretty much an hour to make my photo holder...in the same time it took Cathy to make 2! After we were finished, we read a book together, alternating pages being read out loud.

When it was time to go, I reminded her to take her crafts...she was a bit shy, but she said she wanted to give me one of the holders that she made for me! That was sooo cute and unexpected for me, as we seemed to get along quite well. So in return, I gave her my holder, which she thought was "totally cool". So I will be displaying my holder proudly at work on my desk tomorrow :)

So that was my morning's experience...it was highly enjoyable for me...however the afternoon brought a completely different situation for me...

Stay tuned for Part 2...to be posted tomorrow (I promise)!