Photo Caption #1 – Arianne sorting clothes at the Calgary Drop-In Centre.
Photo Caption #2 – Dante sorting men's clothes at the Calgary Drop-In Centre
Photo Caption #3 – Christie measuring pants at the Calgary Drop-In Centre.
Photo Caption #4 – Jaiden and Ivan folding and sorting donations of socks at the Calgary Drop-In Centre.
Photo Caption #5 – Claire organizing clothes at the Salvation Army Warehouse while Jaiden, Arianne, and Christie model some of the fashionable items found in the boxes.
Photo Caption #6 – A group selfie with Thomas and Allison from MCC!
Photo Caption #7 – After emptying many, many boxes of clothes, we couldn't resist filling one ourselves!
Hello to everyone who are wondering how we are doing! On behalf of ALSO Calgary crew, I am thrilled to say that we had a great kick start to our first day of service. Our day started off with a wake up call at 5:45a.m. Everyone didn't mind it because we were going to the Calgary Drop In Centre which is known for being North America's largest drop in centre.
An important part of visiting the Drop In Centre was that the ALSO Calgary portion of the money raised from the 'Have a Heart' campaign was donated here. We had the privilege of serving 900 meals of tasty breakfast to people who could not afford it at all, with all the food being bought by money raised by RJC students!! It was truly an overwhelming feeling for us because we got to see our donations transform a person's entire day. It not only helped set off their day right, it helped ours too.
Afterwards we got to tour around the Drop In Centre, folded and sorted clothing, and witnessed many things we could never imagine ourselves going through. We also learnt so much about Alberta and more intimately, the people who reside in this vast province. We touched on a variety of topics including the stereotypes of a homeless person to what is the root causes of homelessness. We were also encouraged to look beyond stereotypes and see the person or story behind them. For us, reminded us that when we serve people we are really serving Jesus. I think it is safe to say that we have learned so much from this experience and we are better equipped to take on more tasks that is to come!
Our second stop was the Salvation Army Warehouse. At this place we sorted clothing that people had donated. Most of the clothing is either used to give in hampers or sold at thrift shops. We have found joy in the items we have discovered in the donation card boxes. We contributed by sorting clothes into different age groups and season changes. The coordinator for the day, Jane, taught us a very valuable lesson about giving gifts. She instruct us to discard anything that is dirty, torn, or inappropriate. This was because the condition of the clothes reflects largely on how much we think they are worth. This to me, is like seeing the people in need as divine because they are also made in God's image. Our ALSO theme this year is Namaste, and I am happy to have learned about our ALSO theme through serving for others.
As the day progressed, we moved from a larger scale (Drop In Centre) to a smaller and closer scale. We took part in the food bank of the church we are living for our Calgary ALSO trip – Abbeydale Christian Fellowship. The students were helping by distributing food, talking to the people, and holding the elevator for some people! It felt right to help and support the community when they need it. This was a really neat chance for us to talk with the people accessing food at the church and hear their story. It is always very humbling to see the gratitude in the people we served, both here and earlier in the day.
We ended our day with a lovely supper made my the chaperones and a very insightful reflection time following that. It was a great time of fellowship. After a long day of work, while we are unwinding, the fire alarm went off. Two fire trucks showed up along with four fire fighters. The excitement never ends for us.
Tomorrow we will be dividing into two groups to cover more ground in Calgary. We will stay in these groups for the next two days. During this time we will visit some of the same places, like the Mustard Seed, while also doing different jobs that relate to the 'hands' or 'heart' of ALSO learning and service. We are excited to have different experiences and share them over supper and in the evening.
We should also note that most of our pictures come from times when we were doing service work away from the clients of places like the Drop-In Centre. While we would love to record our work experiences, we know that supporting the dignity of clients involves not photographing them. In our effort to be respectful we are working hard to limit our pictures to certain times and places.
Written by Christie
