Volunteers happy to lend hand with sandbagging
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/05/2011 (5466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Hundreds of volunteers showed up to sandbag because their city needed help.
They left tired and exhausted, clothes covered in sand, but ready to fight the flood another day.
"We’ve had to be working really fast because the water comes up as we are working," said Kaileea Brooks, a Neelin High School student who took the day from school to help out.
Those getting off the bus at Sixth Street and Stickney Avenue were affectionately called fresh meat as they came in to relieve tired volunteers who had put in some long hours at the flood’s front line.
"That’s what we were yelling when new people came," Brooks said. "We’re basically having to go as fast as we could. At first we ran out of sandbags, then they came faster than we could keep up."
Many who registered to volunteer at the old Convergys Building at Sixth Street and Princess Avenue, spent four hours or so throwing wet, heavy sandbags that can weigh up to 20 kilograms.
"You’ve got to help out when you can," said Gary Keeble of Brandon. "It was hard. There’s a lot of lifting and some of the bags are so much heavier than the others and there’s poor footing, but it was good to be here. You meet a lot of good people."
Greg Brown, Brandon’s volunteer co-ordinator for the flood, said hundreds of people answered the call for help when it was needed.
"We have needs at various locations, which is why we are having people come here (to the old Convergys Building) so we can transport people to where the action is."
At peak times, Brandon Transit buses ran every 15 minutes, playing cheerful radio music for the volunteers to help keep them motivated as they headed in to work.
Transit service is required to haul volunteer labour because many of the work sites have extremely limited parking.
Brown asked prospective volunteers to register at the downtown office or call 729-2293 to ensure everyone can be accounted for.
"We always need more volunteers," Brown said.