“You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give” – Winston Churchill
Contributed by English Communication students and their teacher John Heron at ILSC-Montréal
The team of volunteers helping with food preparation
On December 12, 2015, we had a great opportunity to work as volunteers at Logifem. Logifem is a charity organization, which helps women to get through difficult situations, such as addictions, conjugal violence and unplanned pregnancies. Logifem provides women with shelter, food and support, in order to re-integrate them into society.
Once we got there, the first thing we noticed was the welcoming atmosphere. All the people we met there were extremely friendly and kind. The place was well-decorated for Christmas, because that night they were having a party and they were expecting 70(!) guests. However, they had only one cook, so obviously they needed help preparing the food. As soon as we got our hairnets* our working day began!
We were all given specific tasks, such as rinsing and slicing vegetables, cubing cheese, washing dishes, preparing canapés and sandwiches and so on. We were very impressed with how our teacher dealt with all the culinary tasks, he appeared to know what he was doing.
At the same time as we were working, we were able to develop our vocabulary and kitchen skills. We also had the opportunity to meet Nadine, who was doing her internship as a nutritionist; she helped in the kitchen and told us many interesting stories about her experience at Logifem.
We all agree that working as a day volunteer is one of the most enjoyable experiences that we have ever had at ILSC-Montréal.
Even though our volunteer work was simple and the time was limited, we think every effort counts. Moreover, we believe that this kind of work and doing good deeds for others can be very satisfying and pleasurable.
(* for food hygiene – as you can see in the photo!)