The city's biggest free clothing event is setting up for this weekend. Before then, it needs to put a squadron of community-minded citizens in place to run the show.
When asked if the St. Albert Alliance Church was still in need of volunteers for its Share and Wear swap on Saturday, the church's community engagement and missions assistant Melissa Baker responded overwhelmingly in the affirmative.
"Absolutely!" she exclaimed.
For 15 years, the event has opened its doors to St. Albert and the surrounding community, helping families in need with free clothing and other household goods. There's a definite need for it here, she continued, as it generally sees "upwards of 1,000 people" each time around.
Nothing this large can happen without many hands coming together to pull it off, she said.
"It's a two-hour event but the prep for it is three days. That's dropping off of items and then us getting 150 volunteers to put it all together and set it up. There's this flood of people that come in and it's chaos for the first couple of minutes until things settle down. It really, to me, was quite an emotional experience the last time I saw it."
"It's pretty amazing! It's just a really tangible way that we've been able to bless our community."
Despite the tight timeframe, there has yet to be any talk of expanding it or extending the event in any way. There just aren't enough volunteers to do so.
"There's never really a cut off point for that either. We'd always accept volunteers because it's a great way to build community."
The semi-annual event occurs every six months with the next one anticipated for April 2015.
The Share and Wear family clothing exchange takes place on Oct. 18 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Donations can be dropped off on Oct. 17 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
According to the church, items that will be accepted include clothes, accessories, toys, books, and small household items (i.e. coffeemakers, irons, toasters, linens, etc.). All items must be clean and in good condition.
The St. Albert Alliance Church is located at 25416 Secondary Highway 633, 1.5 km west of St. Albert Trail along Villeneuve Road.
For more information about the event, including how to become a volunteer, call Baker at 780-418-7503 or email her at [email protected].
Kettles need bell ringers
St. Albert Salvation Army church Pastor Peter Kim had a similar response when asked how many bell ringers he hopes will sign up for this year's Christmas Kettle Campaign.
"Lots!" he laughed.
There are approximately 1,530 shifts that will be available, a quota that could be filled by as few as 100 hearty volunteers. "Five shifts per day, two hours per shift, for six weeks," he said. There will be several locations in operation once the campaign starts in mid-November.
Kim especially hopes to enlist the "next generation" of volunteers. As regular volunteers get older, they aren't able to help as much.
"We're appreciative of all those volunteers that we currently have. We don't ever take them for granted but we are looking."
He encouraged businesses, sports clubs and other service groups to put together teams to offer their help.
People can contact the church for more information or to sign up by calling 780-458-1937.
