Join our upcoming events and become more connected to your community!
SOS is committed to enhancing our residents’ quality of life, including promoting healthy social lives and interpersonal connections.
Our events combat isolation, educate, inspire and help raise awareness of the resources available at SOS.
We also want to keep our pulse on the community, by listening to our residents’ thoughts, suggestions and interests. Your input is valuable and could help shape future events. Click below to fill out a brief survey.
See below the highlights of the Spring Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Thank you everyone for coming to our annual SOS Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon! To all the volunteers, dignitaries and our special musical guest Jesse Epp, thank you for celebrating with us and for making this event so special. It was wonderful to reconnect and to celebrate!
What do you do when you pass a stranger on the street? Do you smile and say hello, or do you keep your head down and keep on walking?
I think it depends on where you’ve come from. If you’re from a big city, you might not feel comfortable making eye contact. However, if you have lived here all your life or come from a smaller community, chances are you find it easier to strike up a conversation with a total stranger. And you never know, it might be the first kind gesture that stranger may have received all day. To me, that’s what kindness and community is all about.
In celebration of Kindness Week, and Random Acts of Kindness Day (today!) I am offering several ideas to help you perform some random acts of kindness towards a stranger, especially towards someone who is different from yourself. Here’s some ideas to get your going:
If you’re a gardener, take some fresh flowers to a nursing home.
Smile and say hi to the bank clerk, the grocery store cashier, the person walking their dog, the construction worker. You get the idea. It’s about just being more open and human.
Start a trend of “pay it forward” at the coffee drive-through.
Write a thank-you note to your letter carrier.
Offer to return someone’s grocery cart in the parking lot.
Let someone in ahead of you in the grocery store line.
Let someone else take the closer parking spot.
Buy a warm meal for a stranger in need.
Leave a great tip at a restaurant along with a note saying thanks for the service.
Take a basket of cookies or muffins to a new neighbour. Remember a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. Take the time to meet them.
Sign up as a volunteer to deliver meals, pick up groceries or drive residents to their medical appointments.
Buy gift cards from a coffee shop or fast-food restaurant to give to people who are living on the street or in a shelter.
Give an unexpected compliment – “I really appreciate your great service today.” “You’re really great with your dog.” “Your garden looks beautiful.” “That’s a great colour on you.” Make it respectful, genuine, and appropriate.
Never underestimate the power of kindness to change someone’s day and possibly their life. And remember to treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you. Not because they are nice, but because you are.
SOS is working with Blue Sky Fundraising to help fundraise for SOS. They are a local company who produce savings books to help raise funds for charities and local schools such as SPCA and Ballenas Secondary School. Each book will retail at $20 each and sold at SOS Thrift Shop and at our Parksville Community Services Centre from February 13 – end of May.
Inside the Savings book readers will find many coupons from businesses in Qualicum Beach, Parksville and Nanaimo. Overall providing over $1,400 worth of savings.
For more information on Blue Sky Fundraising or the Savings Book visit www.blueskybc.com and www.savingsbook.ca.
Dreaming of a better you this year? This is the place to begin. The SOS Personal Growth Group helps residents enhance their quality of life and develop their potential while gaining new skills and confidence. Outcomes include: a better connection with yourself and others, a better understanding of identity, and increased awareness of relationships with family, friends, and the community. The program runs for 10-weeks from Jan. 21 – April 4 at the SOS Community Services Centre in Parksville. The cost is $5 per session and the remainder of the cost is subsidized by SOS. Pre-register for the program by calling 250-752-2040 ext. 200.
Join SOS for a free seminar on creating a healthy resilience practice on Saturday, February 11 from 10 a.m. to noon, at the SOS Community Services Centre in Parksville.
The seminar will be led by Cindy Thompson ACC, M. Sc, RCC, who is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Certified Executive Coach. Over the past two years Cindy has been studying resilience and learning from the lived experience of her guests on A Resilience Project podcast. Representatives from local mental health service organizations will also be present for a panel question and answer discussion.
