With the amount of snow that has been dumped on the city over the last few weeks, it's good to know there are a few angels ready to lend a helping hand to those in need.
Snow Angels Canada began in 2015 when Lincoln McCardle, from London, realized he had several people in his neighbourhood who couldn't shovel their own driveways and walks and couldn't afford to hire private contractors.
“There are a lot of able-bodied people in every community who can shovel their neighbour’s walk and help reduce their cost of hiring a bigger company. Nothing against the companies but just sometimes all one needs is a friend to help out,” said McCardle.
Snow Angels London started to snowball into something bigger as more people began to hear about it and despite having a full-time job, McCardle branched out elsewhere.
“This was originally Snow Angels London but I received so many requests to expand elsewhere that the folks who have donated their time to running our site suggested we change the name to offer it all over,” said McCardle. “We can now be accessed in many parts of Canada and help people connect who really can’t shovel, maybe due to physical limitations.”
McCardle said the “real big push” for the organization came last year when Barrie came on board.
“There was quite a need from people in Barrie needing this service, clearly you all get a lot of snow there as has been seen the last few weeks,” said McCardle.
Barrie’s Mindy Ross was scrolling Facebook one day last year and saw the ad for Snow Angels pop up.
“I thought that would be a really great thing to start with my kids ... just to get them to see the value in helping others without expecting something in return,” said Ross.
While her children, aged 9, 10 and 13 would do the shovelling, Ross would get them those who requested help through the Snow Angels website.
“It's really easy because you just type in the first half of your postal code and it shows who needs help around you.,” said Ross. “It is mainly seniors and those with mobility issues, so it is very worthwhile to get involved and lend a hand.”
While there is no pay involved and sometimes you don’t even meet the person you’re helping, Ross said it has paid off in other ways for her kids.
“They are always very excited to go and they love knowing they’re helping someone out,” said Ross. “When the job is over they are so full of accomplishment and the feeling they did something good, it's the kind of thing needed for kids to have a great mindset.”
McCardle said that while he heads the organization, the entire thing practically runs itself.
“I still get people asking me if I can send someone over at a certain date and time and I have to explain that isn’t how it works. I just explain how to put it out there on the site, that's really all I do, but it is quite often,” said McCardle.
“There is no money in this, its a labour of love and fortunately we have so many helpers in Canada that we have around two volunteers for every person requesting help.”
If you need assistance with shoveling or want to help someone out, head to the website and follow the instructions.
