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Calgary Sales Consultants Jonathon Murray and Melanie Dobsin used their Payworks paid day off to volunteer (Pay it Forward Day) to help out an operation called Grow Calgary.
On July 12, the two spent five and a half hours weeding and mounding potatoes in the blazing heat in the Grow Calgary garden located just off the TransCanada highway beside Canada Olympic Park.
“I personally thought it was a lot of fun even for an extremely hot day with no shade,” said Melanie. “We worked really hard and managed to accomplish a lot as a group.”
Grow Calgary is Canada’s largest community farm. They provide Compassionate Food Access Agencies in Calgary with fresh produce. According to their website, 100% of what the organization grows is donated, all of their production is done by volunteers, 95% of their recipients are women and children, and all of their recipients are vulnerable and living in poverty.
“Grow Calgary is a new customer of ours and we wanted to support their cause for the day,” said Jonathon. “It was satisfying knowing that my time and hard work were going towards helping someone that was less fortunate.”
Although Jonathon, Melanie, and the rest of their working group were hot, sweaty and dirty at the end of their volunteer shift, they were in agreement that it was worth every minute knowing they were helping the community.
“I personally feel great knowing that my time was spent that day for an organization whose sole purpose is to feed fresh produce to those that need it most in Calgary,” said Melanie.
