“Time is money,” the saying goes. Maybe volunteers have never heard that expression, or maybe they just choose to ignore it.
Whenever there is a big event in town, there might be a few people that make money out of it, but there will also be a lot of people who don’t make a cent (or 5 cents, I should say, now that the penny is out of circulation.)
These people are the real stars in the community. Those people that give a significant amount of their time up, when they could be just relaxing and actually enjoying the event themselves, so that everyone else can have fun.
In this day and age where everyone is struggling to make enough money to pay off their debts, it’s amazing that there are people that are able to find the time to devote to working for nothing but the satisfaction of seeing people enjoying themselves.
They ask for nothing in return. I’m sure most don’t even care for recognition.
Most are just doing it because they love the community they live in and want to be involved in it.
Griz Days is the biggest weekend in the Fernie calendar, with events stretching from the kid friendly parade and the Baby Griz competition to more grown up events like street hockey and the Extreme Griz competition.
A big event means lots of volunteers behind the scenes getting everything ready and making sure it runs smoothly.
All of them made a commitment to help out, and they all follow through, come rain or shine.
Griz Days is an incredible display of community spirit, and a chance for the community to all come together to celebrate our Fernie winter wonderland.
What is the best way to say thank you to the man pouring you a drink in the beer tent, or the woman handing out 50/50 tickets.
They don’t want money and they don’t want recognition. They just want to see people out enjoying the events.
So come along to as many events as you can this weekend, and show all the volunteers that their amazing efforts are worthwhile.