“It’s an honour for us to be able to serve them for a change,” says Kat Eddy, executive director of the Campbell River Literacy Association (CRLA).
The room at Robron Centre is full of smiling faces passing plates of scones, fruit and other delectable treats and the few paid employees of CRLA are circulating with tea and coffee Tuesday at “High Tea.”
“We typically have a Chinese food dinner each year to thank our volunteers,” Eddy says, “but this year we thought we’d class it up a bit and see how High Tea went, and as you can see, it’s going pretty well.”
The work of volunteers is what make many things happen within the community that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, Eddy says, so she looks forward to Volunteer Appreciation Week every year so the organization can formally thank them – though she thinks they know they’re appreciated.
“We tell them all the time how much we appreciate them, and they probably wouldn’t do it if they didn’t feel like it was appreciated,” Eddy says, “but this is just a nice chance for us to get them all together and tell them, formally, I suppose.”
Volunteer Pete Cassidy says he loves donating his time to help people learn English. He’s currently on his third learner – a physical education teacher from Mexico – as he completes his second year with CRLA.
“It’s been great fun; it’s satisfying; it’s interesting. And what else do I get out of it? Well, he helps me with my Spanish,” he says with a smile.
Check out a video of the event at campbellrivermirror.com