In the gymnasium of the Central Neighbourhood House on December 15, 2009 I had the opportunity to help out with 19 other volunteers representing Toronto’s GenNext United Way group. We all helped to setup, serve and clean up a holiday party put on for the daycare parents and children so they could enjoy their own festive event. Decorations included a snowman, snowy trees, a finger painted ‘Happy Kwanzaa’ sign and paper crafted candles made by some of the kids of the daycare. During the party many of us were serving the foods, most of which was brought by parents in a potluck fashion. The food varied from Turkey and stuffing to perogies, samosas, rice dishes and more uncommon dishes like an Ethiopian bread and meat dish (which was delicious, for the record). I was mainly serving the attendees from the desert section, so I was a popular one, especially with the kids. Really though, everyone happy, welcoming, friendly, and patient with the single-file line for food as it was a large group in attendance. A few of the volunteers also ran a sales table of winter items and the face painting table, sufficiently fulfilling the children’s requests for painted characters of whatever they wished. Being a single young professional it was nice to see a large group of families from Toronto get together and celebrate the festive season. They were very appreciative that our group came to help their party run. Angela, the leader of the daycare, said their holiday event wouldn’t have happened without our help. Many of the involved families even stayed after to engage in songs and playing instruments, instilling a sense of community, at least that’s why I felt as I saw they were having a good time. It was a nice take on the holidays for an evening away from my regular Tuesday night. I’d recommend others to look into the opportunity to volunteer for a similar event to get a break from their daily routine and scenery in order to see what other people do with themselves in our city and offer a small way to let others enjoy an evening for themselves.