Upholding and celebrating community

Wolseley

It wasn’t a crowd of people, it was a community, just the way Carina Blumgrund wanted it to be.

A book launch celebrating the release of More Than You Give, a collection of essays on community and generosity, was held at Sturgeon Heights Community Centre on a Sunday night in early May. The event brought in a room full of community helpers, changemakers, and heart workers, dedicated to spreading love, giving hope, and making the world a little brighter.

There were guest speakers from community organizations, including a compelling presentation by community outreach worker Mitch Bourbonniere about why helping matters. Singer/songwriter Karen Hammarstrand performed a moving song she had written, called Strangers and Angels. Lorraine Clements (a.k.a. Cedar) from Changemaker 231 Inc. spoke with passion about the 231 calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, with a reminder that much work still needs to be done, encouraging all Canadians to help hold all governments accountable for acting on the calls for justice, and to implement them according to the principles set out.

There were refreshments donated by Community Helpers Unite. Inspirational speaker and gang prevention specialist Vincent Lillie was present with his book All Eyes on Me, a story of addiction, recovery and hope. Local writer Heather Emberley was on hand with her children’s book Who Hid the Raisin Bread? with proceeds going to the Bear Clan.

There were children; there were elders. There were people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and lived experience. There was immense gratitude and joy and hope in the room; stubborn hope that things can be better, that we as humans can do more to look after each other.

At the centre was community helper Carina Blumgrund. Fully immersed in countless community walks, charitable projects, causes and grassroots initiatives that help people, groups and organizations, the long-time community volunteer was the recipient of the Mayor’s volunteer service award in 2024.

Blumgrund has a natural gift for bringing people together, building community connections and inspiring everyone she meets to pay attention, get involved, and give. Through her community work, she began to understand and to learn more about people every day.

“As I moved deeper into this work over the years, something unexpected happened,” she writes in the introduction to the book.

“I started noticing patterns that had nothing to do with the specific streets I walked or the particular agencies I connected with. I was learning about dignity and what happens when a person is truly seen. About how people carry values even when life is complicated. About the small gestures that create trust. About what it means to show up across difference.

“These weren’t local lessons. They were human lessons. Questions that matter anywhere people try to live together in community: How do we show up for one another? What do we owe each other? Who gets to belong, and who decides? What becomes possible when we refuse to look away?”

More Than You Give brings together essays from Blumgrund and other community voices, including volunteers, helpers, and people who have experienced extreme hardship. It’s a must-read for anyone who believes in and cares about community.

In perfect Blumgrund fashion, any food donations collected at the event, and all surplus foods, were delivered to grassroots outreach folks immediately afterward. There was also a plan for aluminum cans to be donated and re-used for various community projects, every detail of the event mindfully put together by the woman who refuses to give up on people.

More Than You Give is available by emailing morethanyougive@gmail.com