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Bicycles 4 Humanity

It started many months ago when Peter Dagg a RE/MAX sales representative and also the founder of Whistler Business Connection invited me to one of his monthly Business meetings at Nita Lake Lodge….. I had heard about Bicycles 4 Humanity before… but I never really knew very much about the cause.

This business meeting was dedicated to Pat Montani and his wonderful wife Brenda, so they could share with a room of about 30 people a glimpse into their very real dedicated life beyond employment… the world of volunteerism … Bicycles 4 Humanity…

 

Bicycles 4 Humanity 

 

National Volunteer week is on right now April 10 – 16th

 

All across Canada regular people are being applauded and appreciated for their contribution to society… Canada has a strong reputation as being one of the many countries where the citizens step up to lend a helping hand. Volunteerism comes in many shapes and sizes; sometimes lasting a lifetime.

To volunteer can mean many different things, you could fundraise after a disaster, you could pack up and leave your safe home and country to travel overseas to help build homes, nurse the sick and even to be a missionary… all for the love of humanity…. 

Bicycles 4 Humanity is a grass-roots initiative started by Brenda and Pat who travel through out BC collecting bicycles… some of the bikes are donated new, some in need of a little repair, to them and their team every bike counts…once they have enough bicycles to fill a container they ship the bicycles to Africa where finding a loving home comes easy. Imagine if this was your only mode of transportation… traveling hundreds of miles by foot can take a very long time. These bicycles are empowering for the lucky owner who lives in poverty.

 

Feeling vulnerable

I don’t know if it is just me, or if every cause has control over my heart-strings… maybe it is my age and I realize how precious every blade of grass is….or how small we really are compared to the Universe.. 

Many people believe we can still save this wonderful world…  and a few people out there today are truly making a difference….

I love people who actually put feelings into motion… and I mean real success that is measurable by helping other people improve their life…

 Pat and Brenda are not measuring their success, as gratifying as the growth of their dream and their many accomplishments might be… they are simply doing what they feel is right for them…  they somehow feel the need deep within their souls to give help to the many suffering and needy people of Africa…

Bingo

Pat and Brenda know exactly what they need to do to send their crate of bicycles to Africa.. they know how much manual labour they need, how many bingo fund-raisers they need to host…and yet they do not get overly concerned with whether they’ll have enough money… they simply believe,  and so do their followers…

The Montani’s loyal followers are like volunteers in many ways, they show up to repair bikes, to load the crates, to spend a little money at the Bingo night… because in the world of volunteerism.. every persons contributions add up.

 Chris Quinlan is the host for the evening calling the numbers… and he is funny… or maybe we’ve just done to many BBC “Absolutely Fabulous” plays together… either way he rocked… everyone rocked, the people at my table and surrounding us were fabulous…the laughter in the room was so inspiring.

BINGO – I yell… OMG I have Bingo…wish I knew to dress up… the people dressed up in tacky bingo outfits really looked like they were having the most fun…..and they looked great! 

 Sugar Momma Pastries    Sabrina was sitting at my table and she volunteered to bring a pedestal of cupcakes… In fact there was a whole table of desserts brought by many different people.. everyone just doing a little to help….mmm

Sugar Momma Pastries - Yummy!

For a fundraiser this one goes to the top of my list, I was having such a good time that I didn’t want to leave… it was a real treat… no pun intended…Tacky or is it Normal? Whistler people living it up getting outside the bubble… I loved it… and I have my outfit all picked out for next year..

Cheers!