Volunteers make the world go round!

Last night I had the pleasure of attending Tyndale St-Georges Community Centre's annual volunteer recognition dinner. This allowed me the chance to meet with and be inspired by many of the diverse and dynamic people who help keep the centre running each and every day.

What amazed me most about some of the people I met? Many of them weren't from Montreal! In fact, the two people that I had the good fortune of eating dinner with weren't even from Canada! First there was Ron, an American ex-pat who "followed love to Montreal" from San Francisco a few years ago. As a recent retiree, he wanted to keep himself busy and put his dance and music skills to good use by working with primary school-aged children. Ron came to Tyndale last fall and also works at an elementary school, wow!

Next was the lovely Nasim, who immigrated to Canada only four months ago from Tehran, Iran. But she wasted no time jumping right into the local lifestyle and decided to give back to the community right away by volunteering at Tyndale. Pretty impressive considering she's still looking for a job in her field and getting to know this great city (and Canadian culture, to boot!). She goes through all of it with a big smile and a passion for bike rides and is an absolute inspiration.

Today I send my hooray to volunteers, not only Ron, Nasim and the other fabulous people at Tyndale but volunteers everywhere who find the time each and every week to give a little something back to their communities and other neighbourhoods around the world. Hooray!

For more information about volunteering in Montreal, please visit the Volunteer Bureau of Montreal's website.