Pitching In: Is Volunteer another name for Angel?

Rob Bernshaw in front of Welcome to Pincher Creek Sign
East of the community on Highway 3

Rob Bernshaw, Columnist

When was the last time we pitched in to serve our neighbors, our community our province our country?

This is not about running away and joining the military, it is not about pitching in to waste receptacles to help clean up our environment(even though that is a good cause) it is about taking the time to run away from self interest(s) and volunteering in a worthy cause of your choice. It is about pitching in and becoming Angels to those around us.

Let us take a look at three communities in the province of Alberta that have taken steps to look after and provide a service for the needs of people with mobility issues.

Each of these unique communities have residents with big hearts and great intentions in mind that have taken steps in order to provide the valued services required to improve the quality of life, health and mobility for people without those qualities that the rest of us seem to take for granted.

In Pincher Creek, a small community with a big heart nestled amongst the south west foothills of the Alberta Rockies, there is a very generous volunteer group that spends countless hours and possibly many sleepless nights looking after providing help to local families of the Pincher Creek area that due to a health crisis find themselves in emergency financial distress. This group of dedicated volunteer Angels have also recently provided a local family with a fully equipped van to help with the families mobility requirements.

This writer is talking about the Angels Within Us, a fantastic group of individuals that have taken the term ‘Angels Within Us’ to a new level and have actually created and put into action what the words depict. If anyone would like to get involved with or help out in any way and let the Angel within you shine bright please get in touch with a board member to show your support and love of community:

Contact Info:
Angels Within Us
Box 911
Pincher Creek, AB, T0K 1W0

The board members are:
Kris and Trevor Gilmore, Mona Low, Bryan and Sherry Mackenzie, Michelle and Jim Duncan, Rosanna Higginbotham, Linda Vance, Dave Jenkins

Related links:
Angels Within Us Annual Fundraiser
Pincher Creek Voice Angels Within Us search

Thanks go out to the generous donations of all individuals that are finding ways to step up to let their inner Angel shine bright for all to see.

Almost every community has programs or volunteers that help the less mobile in our society and moving to Grande Prairie there is a program in place called:

The Disabled Transportation Society (DTS) of Grande Prairie

• a non-profit society, with a mission to supply door to door transportation for persons with special needs, who are unable to use other forms of public transportation, safely and with dignity.
• largely funded by the City of Grande Prairie, and supplemented by donations from the United Way, Rotary Cars for Christmas, the County of Grande Prairie, membership fees, trip fares, and fund raising at Bingos and Casinos.

~source http://www.gpdts.ca/

The above two communities have determined the priorities of their citizens and have stepped up to the plate with an effort to provide the best service available to its most vulnerable citizens. With the myriad of volunteers working in conjunction with civic officials in both Grande Prairie and Pincher Creek the Angels are flying high to provide the best possible service for the communities involved.

Unfortunately, for every Angel flying among us there always seems to be an anomaly to what is beneficial to the community at large, or a fly in the ointment so to speak.

Let us get one thing on the table before proceeding further and that is Edmonton has many fine volunteers and organizations with dedicated people willing to step up to the plate and pitch in to help their neighbors in their community.

Edmonton is in the midst of budget deliberations and is endeavoring to find more ways to cut the fat and trim the budget so that community members such as it’s vulnerable seniors and people on fixed incomes will not feel so much of a pinch to the pocket book come the New Year.

Edmonton is currently providing a service called the Disabled Adult Transit Service or DATS program for short. The community of Edmonton was in the news recently with a statement by Coun Amarjeet Sohi expressing concern for the need of the province to step up to the plate and pitch in for the DATS program since a little more than 10 percent of the trips are health-related. Sohi also said the city service is important and believes the city should be involved. It was also mentioned that the city is proud to provide this valuable service.

On that note why would the City of Edmonton that is willing to spend $475 million of taxpayer dollars towards a hockey arena for a billionaire find it necessary to go hat in hand to the Provincial Government of the day and tell them they should pitch in and anti up a paltry $2.7 million dollars towards a very important service that is a municipal responsibility? It is unconscionable and defies common sense that an arena is more important than looking after the needs of seniors, disabled adults and the less mobile of society.

With logic that defies gravity the determination was also made that the very important Alberta Air Ambulance Service(Medevac) under the Alberta Health Services mandate and flying out of the Edmonton City Centre Airport( ECCA) is a municipal issue. When did the wires get crossed and the lines blurred that DATS become a Provincial responsibility or Medevac Service(serving rural Alberta out of the ECCA) a municipal responsibility?

It is nice to see where the priorities are in place in the above scenarios of Arena, Medevac and DATS.

At the end of the day, with the setting of the sun, the most important decisions that we make are ultimately nothing if we have only thought of ourselves along the way.

Without regard to how important everyone around us is, in helping this world progress smoothly into the future, we will falter in our journey.

Moving forward a big thank you needs to go out to the individuals and groups that have their priorities straight and a clear vision of the future of mobility for all in mind. Thank you to all the Angels Within Us and within our communities that have stepped up and run the gambit to provide the needed mobility tools for the less mobile of our society. May this Christmas and the coming New Year Find you all happy, healthy and prosperous in all you do and may your lights shine brighter every day because of the choices made and actions taken.