I was doing the 2-4 shift and had a blast. The music was loud and but as many people can attest to, it added to the ‘groove’-iness of the event. It was pretty cool to talk to so many youth who were part of differnt charity organizations and I personally learned about alot groups that I never knew existed. The networking was great — we traded flyers with the group that was across from us so they will be posting our info at their office and we will be posting their info at ours. We met a variety of people ranging from those who wanted to get involved with us to those who were just passing by and beiing educated. I think our jelly bean game was pretty effective since many people could not supress their shocked expressions when they found out that 1 in 3 toronto youth and children live in poverty. The chocolate kisses were also a great incentive to encourage people to take a guess on the ratio of red to green beans. Quite a few people signed up with our the Make Poverty History list and others enjoyed finding a space to write their names on the Make Poverty History banner. Overall, this was a great event! I believe that many people who came out were both inspired and educated by the groups that were at The Cause. This was my first time volunteering at any kind of event like this and I can honestly say that It was very rewarding. I’m looking forward to helping out again!
Archive for August, 2006
The turnout from the earlier hours of the event was exactly on par with what we had expected- a steady assembly-line-like flow of people. The cloudy weather had sustained an environment of tranquility at the event had aptly compensated for the booming music that was played in the background, which, for me, could have been classified as both a vice and a virtue. While it was, needless to say, entertaining, and generated excitement, it provided a formidable challenge for us when we were trying to converse with patrons (you try containing your frustration when the person three feet in front of you isn’t able to comprehend a word you are saying, or in my case, yelling).
One major disappointment for me though was the modest interest displayed by youth at the event. From the perspective of an outsider, it would seem as if our cause was primarily geared towards adults, which, considering the theme of the event (a celebration of youth activism in Toronto), was certainly not.
All in all, it was an extremely rewarding experience. We had the opportunity to show off the school2school banner, which impressed many. Although I wasn’t able to stay until the end, I’m certain that the others had just as much, if not more than, the success that I had.
William, Jimmy and I arrived at Yonge-Dundas Square right around 11 o’clock or so. When Chezlie arrived with the equipment, we unloaded it onto the tabletops. William and Chezlie worked on stringing together the “Poverty is..” statements for a makeshift banner while Jimmy and I worked on creating the granny cart and food bank display–which hopefully, was able to give people a visual for the information they read about.
Thankfully, the set-up overall went really well. We found the cardboard for a sign we were missing, we found the string we apparently lost (another group had taken it!) and though it was quite windy today, I don’t believe there was much paper-flying–what with the numerous heavy canned food we had at arm’s reach. After hearing about last year’s rain catastrophe, wind was definitely better than rain.