Sean Boxer

Since I arrived I feel I've been treated really well by all the Canadians I've met plus I've been really lucky in finding a house and work, Canada is treating me very well.

So now I feel like giving something back, I think I'm going to join the local volunteer fire service and save people from burning buildings and cats from trees.

My wife wants to volunteer for something too but doesn't fancy being a firelady.

Has anyone else done anything worthwhile?

ClareBC

Nice post!!

Is there a volunteer agency in Ottawa? In Vancouver we have http://www.volunteervancouver.ca/ (which I know has been used by newbies just trying to get that elusive "Canadian Experience")

Clare

Volunteerism seems to be a way of life here... To graduate from High School you need to do ?120? hours it is just expected !!

CalgaryAMC

My wife and I volunteered at the humane society for three years. Well, she made me do it.

Virgosah

Another great place to volunteer is the Canadian Cancer Society - very worth wile. Most hospitals need volunteers to help out in certain wards (I volunteered on a ward for people with Alzheimers and spent time taking them on trips to the park and to see relatives). Although it sounds sad, it was very fulfilling. Or what about an animal hospital?

I think it's great that you are considering this. Good luck with finding something you love to do!

Rhodes

What's the Humane Society?

jorja

I volunteer for the YMCA. Montreal also has their own volunteer bureau that puts you in touch with local charities that need help. Sure there's something similar where you are..

CalgaryAMC

The equivalent of the RSPCA.

prodigyking

I have been thinking about this for a while, and definitely want to join the volunteer firefighters in Montreal


http://www.coderouge.com/indexf.php

CalgaryAMC

In many places there are long waiting lists for the volunteer fire department.

karenr

I am new to this message board , and really enjoy hearing everybodies views . I just wanted to say ,for people like us waiting to emmigrate this post reminds us why we are going and hopefully why we made that decision .
So thankyou
Regards
Karen

ClareBC

So where are you thinking of going to??

karenr

Hi Clare we are heading to London Ontario . I have a sister and cousin in the area . Our time scale is via the skilled workers route, applied May 04 and recieved AOR july 13th {hpoefully lucky!!! }
All I know is I am going quietly mad with the waiting . Searching for meaning in every small piece of information from the CIC , clutching to the vague hope that maybe things will speed up . Of course we are continuing with our lives but it is so difficult because so many aspects are affected by the thought .....If we are still here ......
Sometimes when I am reading the negative posts I doubt our decision and then I run through the whole process of what got us to this point and then I
reconfirm our decision . So it is such a constant rollercoaster of emotions with life basically being held in Limbo . I am sure this is the same for a lot of people .
How long have you been in Canada ? Are you happy with your decision ?
Regards
karen

hot wasabi peas

I have volunteered for a variety of different organizations but by far the most satisfying was a stint of volunteering for an organization that helped people grieve the loss (death) of a pet. It was satisfying to me because it offered a service that a lot of people used and benefitted from - however initially embarrassed or relunctant they were to admit they were experiencing difficulties because of the death of their pet. The shear relief people expressed for being listened to and taken seriously (instead of "it was just a dog - get over it") was always remarkable. As a volunteer, I felt useful in a very direct way, in an aera of life that I care about, so it felt very worthwhile. I suspect volunteer firefightering would offer the same feeling. I also volunteered at a tree planting event but only because I was massively attracted to the organizer.

Sean Boxer

Just in case anyone is interested, I finally joined the volunteer fire service last week.

I thought it was going to be very "Dad's Army". . . . just supporting the professionals but it turns out, we are The Professionals!!

Out here in the country we don't have a full time fire service, just a group of 26 guys (27 now) with pagers who drop everything when we get the call.

We've even got a proper station, 2 big fire trucks and a mobile HQ - I thought we'd just have a couple of buckets and a bicycle.

The best bit is that the squadron leader wants me to drive the truck as they've all got manual gearboxes. It really doesn't get any better than this. I mean, who doesn't want to drive a fire engine?

So anyway, we haven't had any fires in the 4 days since I've joined. In fact they've only had one all winter, unfortunately they got there a bit late (probably couldn't get out of 1st gear) and the house had completely burnt down.

So there you go, I'm giving something back to the community and it feels really good.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Wish me luck.

Sean

iaink

Good Luck! Thats great to hear. I hope they give you good training before you go rushing into harms way!
I was considering joining my local VFD, they were advertising recently, saying they needed more help...do they have restrictions on how far away you work and live..It would take me 25 mins to get to the fire hall, so I figure its a non starter of an idea.

My wife thinks it would:
A: Be too much of a commitment time wise with a young family.
B: Be a bit of a boys drinking society.
Any thoughts?

Do they pay you for being on call? That would just be too good...paid to drive the fire truck