Spirit of Calgary – Part 2

Well Calgary, you have impressed me again. I’ve just finished the two days of the best volunteer experiences in my lifetime.

This morning, my new friend Penny picked me up and we headed back to Bowness. We got our assignment at the Sportsplex and headed to the address. The homeowner was not around so we went down the street in search of opportunity.  We found Joanne, who was emptying her basement. She had a lot of help already, but appreciated the extra hands.  I finally got the chance to get dirty! I got to muck a basement. There was a few inches of water down there. The water went past the ceiling and into the first floor. As a result, the drywall came off really easily, but was heavy due to being waterlogged. We shoved the mess out the basement window. It was quite the experience.

I returned home with time enough to grab a snack. Emily left a message saying she needed help and equipment in Sunnyside. I packed up a shovel, crowbar, garbage bags and wheelbarrow. We were cleaning the basement of a friend’s condo building that was the victim of a sewer backup. It came halfway up the wall.  This was harder to deal with than the previous assignment. The bottom part of the drywall came off easy, but the top foot was dry and needed to be scored and ripped off. There were no windows, so everything had to be hauled up the stairs. They needed a generator to power the lights. Hard manual labour, but I quite enjoyed it.

The highlights for today:

• Meeting one very grateful homeowner in Bowness
• Removing the ceiling of the basement and having water pour out
• Getting covered with mud, and…
• Getting caught on camera by Shaw while visiting their water station
• Meanwhile in Sunnyside…
• A family walked by offering us free chili and peanut butter and jam sandwiches
• A lady pulled up in her SUV and offered us sandwiches, juice, fruit, carrots and snacks
• Shaw person walked by offering us free flashlights
• People who I just met treating me like family
• Finishing the afternoon event with a beer in hand on the sidewalk. Bylaws drove by. CPS drove by, rolled down the window and chatted.  Beer drinking continued.

Back to work tomorrow! If I wasn’t working, I would volunteer again.