Riel Day
The next Louis Riel Day is February 18th, 2013. Read on or contact us for more information if you’d like to be involved!
It began, as most good things do, with coffee and conversation.
4 years ago, when I was volunteering at Agape Table, I sat down to have coffee and a conversation with one of the guests, who I’ll call John. John began the conversation by asking me what I thought of the new holiday, Louis Riel Day.
John is Aboriginal, so I assumed he was asking me what I thought of naming a day in Louis Riel’s honour and so I answered truthfully that if we were going to have a new holiday, then it was fitting to honour a man like Riel.
Well, John said, “I hate it. In fact I hate all holidays.”
I was completely taken aback and asked John, “Why?”
“Holidays are no help to the homeless,” he said. “Everything is closed. The libraries are closed, the stores are closed, and there is no where to go to keep warm. And it was really cold on Monday.”
In that one conversation John completely changed my thinking about Riel Day. It hadn’t occurred to me that the holiday had further complicated the already complicated lives of homeless people like John.
In 2012, Louis Riel Day is Monday, February 20th and House Blend will once again be partnering with Agape Table to provide a safe, warm space where people can go to enjoy the day. We’ll have food, games, live music and, or course, lots of coffee on hand throughout the day. You can help with this event by organizing a team to sign up for a shift and volunteer, by collecting socks or warm weather gear, by praying for everyone involved in this event, or by making a financial donation.
It’s a great cause but it’s also a lot of fun, so I hope you’ll seriously consider getting involved. Contact us for more information or to volunteer to help.
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