LMTimebank.org-Vancouver, B.C. Canada

“It shouldn’t require an epic disaster to bring people together, but it is all too often the case. Why do we need an “excuse” to go out and meet neighbors on the street corner, to show hospitality to a stranger or to anticipate and respond to the needs of others?

I don’t have an answer for this, except to say that, if some kind of excuse is needed, then TimeBanking is such an excuse.

TimeBanking works proactively where storms work reactively, in providing opportunities and reasons for people to gather. It is the loom upon which community can be woven, as long as there are people willing to pull the threads.”

TimeBanks associated with the TimeBanks USA get a regular newsletter (one day I’ll get to doing ours!   ) and in the latest newsletter there is an update from the head office membership coordinator. She tells a great story of spontaneous local community building during the Washington, DC snowstorm (not this year in B.C., we have a “green” Olympics).

She poses an interesting question at the end which really speaks to the core of TimeBanking. Can we offer ourselves and be giving to others anytime not just when times are tough? Adversity brings out the best sometimes, how about anytime?

Have a read if you wish:

“Maybe some of you live in a place where three feet of snow is not a big deal. Here in Washington, DC, three feet of snow is equivalent to the End of the World, and in fact, in many circles last week, the storm was dubbed the “Snowpocalypse.” Washingtonians endured whiteouts, blackouts, brownouts and not-being-outs.

I personally shoveled approximately twelve cubic tons of snow. Well, that is probably an exaggeration, but it was a lot. A shovel was stolen from our front porch, the awning buckled under the weight of snow, one bush in the yard will never be the same. Everything shut down, from schools to churches to local and federal government. I really did a double-take when I saw this message scroll across the TV screen: “Spiritual Insights cancelled.” Now THAT is some storm!

In the midst of the chaos, the sore muscles and the cabin fever, there was a lot of friendly neighborhood camaraderie (minus the shovel-stealing, of course). There were countless “community digs,” as we began to call them, in which four or five people with shovels came to the aid of stuck vehicles. Neighbors clustered, beer and popcorn in hand, to watch another neighbor tow a service van up the hill with his Nissan truck.

When, after two days, snowplows had not come to our street, everyone pitched in to carve out some road. People of all ages, races and ethnicities came together to dig out from under the snow. We learned to speak a common language of groans and sighing, giggles and knowing looks. In short, it took the snowstorm of the century to achieve the kind of community for which I have always hoped.

It shouldn’t require an epic disaster to bring people together, but it is all too often the case. Why do we need an “excuse” to go out and meet neighbors on the street corner, to show hospitality to a stranger or to anticipate and respond to the needs of others?

I don’t have an answer for this, except to say that, if some kind of excuse is needed, then TimeBanking is such an excuse.

TimeBanking works proactively where storms work reactively, in providing opportunities and reasons for people to gather. It is the loom upon which community can be woven, as long as there are people willing to pull the threads.”

- Jen”

What say you?

Check out TimeBanking at http://LMTimeBank.org .

If you’re already a member, stay involved and make a difference in someone’s life today, while letting them make a difference in theirs. It’s about giving and receiving equally!