Santa Shuffle with the Salvation Army

It's early in the morning on a Saturday, and all is covered in snow as the mercury drops several degrees below zero. But that isn't enough to stop 10 eager service learners from helping out at the the Santa Shuffle, a charity 5K run held every year to support the London Salvation Army. I had never heard about the run before this year, but it's held in over 30 communities all over Canada every winter. We all arrived early to help with registration and directing runners that were soon going to run 5 laps around gorgeous Victoria Park, an ambitious feat considering how cold it was and the unshovelled paths. For us it was also a great learning experience. Some of us were tasked with cheering runners on as they ran, while others were handing out goody bags at the finish line.  At reflection, we all agreed that the sense of accomplishment we could see on the faces of those who finished the run was among some of the best parts of the morning. Many of the participants were not serious runners, or even athletic, but the need in the community was enough to get them out of bed early on a Saturday. Most of us service learners had never heard of the Santa Shuffle before either, and were impressed that we were able to contribute to a worthy cause doing something unexpected. We were not helping out at a shelter, or sorting through donations, nor did we meet any of the people that the Salvation Army serves, but yet we were able help thousands of people. And that, is what amazed us most.

Vivian
Student Coordinator