The Unglamorous World of Community Organizing
People often think the life of a community organizer is meeting famous people, going to parties and just generally hanging out. It is much more complicated and intricate than that. Community organizers have to be people versed in many different areas. We have to able to deal with a variety of situations and remain in alert. People aren't following your directions? Being an organizer requires people skills, language skills and problem solving skills. You need to be quick on your feet and willing to put yourself out there.The best thing about Richmond Hill is that it is a tight knit community where everyone knows who you are. Working on various projects, its easier to get out the word. Every year at the Sikh Day Parade, we see new and familiar faces who wish to do seva and help us clean the park that the parade ends in. Every year before the parade begins, we send out a call for volunteers and we get an exceptional number of hardworking and positive people to assist us. Supplies (trash bags, brooms, etc) need to be gathered in preparation for distribution to the volunteers. We coordinate with local city agencies to ensure a smooth cleanup of the park. Apart from the Sikh Day Parade we also have a variety of different initiaves that aim at making immigrant and first generation voices transparent to the community at large. In 2016, you can ensure that we will bring new voices in on old issues. Put on your oldest jeans and sneakers, it's time to get to work!
