Recap: My @SchoolBOXhelps experience, part 2

Posted In: Me July 10th, 2014 divider No Comments »

My recent SchoolBOX trip was more than a physical experience but also a spiritual one. Some pretty cool feelings came over me over the 10 days:  Amazement, pride, joy, disgust, inspiration and mostly gratitude.

One of the biggest takeaways for me was the fact the people we saw have less than us in the material sense but seem to be so much happier. They really go back to basics with concentrating on food, shelter, education and play. So inspiring.

It was also incredible to see the impact SchoolBOX and the Amazing People Gala have in those local communities. Why did I wait so long to go check it out?!?

One of my business goals is to make sure I give back to the community that has been very good to me. With the Amazing People Gala, I was a conduit to show the world the generosity of the Ottawa Region. It was amazing (pun intended) to see the fruits of our labour and even have entire communities chanting your name. And seeing the Gala logo on a few different schools was very cool and very humbling.

Even if I resigned as Chair of the Gala, I will still be involved. I’m not sure how exactly at the moment but I will be sure to continue the good work the Gala does for SchoolBOX and other great local charities.

I got great feedback from the scholarship recipients who had life-changing experiences. They represented the Gala well and made sure the children got to be children for a few days by playing with them. You can see  a few of them in the interview we did yesterday morning on CTV Ottawa Morning Live. So nice of CTV Ottawa to let us showcase all the great work we did.

I don’t want to be preachy but you should try and do something for someone else when you can. I can honestly say I get more out of my volunteer experiences then I put in. Caring, time and effort, it’s in you to give!