British Columbia – INC Giving Project

Contributing to ReLeaf Efforts

Nine year old Noelani sees wild blackberry bushes growing everywhere in her neighbourhood, and every summer she looks forward to picking and enjoying them. When she heard that her youth group, in the Church of Christ [Iglesia Ni Cristo] would be participating in an INCGiving event to replace invasive plants, she wanted to participate. The motivation behind her interest? She discovered that the very blackberry bushes she had grown to like were one of the invasive plants threatening her city’s rural forests.

Brethren from the Local Congregations of Delta and Surrey participate in the INCGiving Event Project ReLeaf

In celebration of National Tree Day, she joined her fellow Children’s Worship Service members at Panorama Park in Surrey, British Columbia to participate in Project Releaf. This initiative was launched by the City of Surrey in 1991, and since then over 10,000 plants and shrubs have been planted throughout Surrey’s communities.

Some tools to be used and trees that will be planted at the INCGiving Event Project ReLeaf.

Noelani and her fellow volunteers learned that, in order to benefit the habitat in Panorama Park, new native trees and shrubs need to be planted to replace invasive plants. Caitlin McDonald, a representative from the City of Surrey’s Parks Division, demonstrated how to remove the trees and shrubs from their pots and plant them in the earth. Once the demonstration was completed, the attentive volunteers all eagerly got to work. Over the next 90 minutes they worked alongside each other, sharing smiles and laughs and helped each other with tasks.

INCGiving volunteers listen intently to instructions given by the representative of the City of Surrey – Urban Forestry and Environmental Programs Section – Parks Division

From novices to experts with green thumbs, from the very young to the more mature, and from individuals to larger families, everyone enjoyed seeing the new trees and shrubs in their new, permanent homes. They all knew that, by each person contributing their small part, as a whole they were making a big impact to help the environment. More than 160 trees and shrubs, namely Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Red Alder, Big Leaf Maple, Osoberry, Salmonberry and Snowberry, were planted, and Caitlin thanked the volunteers for their help and hard work.

INCGiving volunteers, join together in planting trees during the Project ReLeaf Event.

Youth members help plant trees during the INCGiving Project, Project ReLeaf Event.

“We thought it was a really fun activity and Noelani was happy to help the environment and the community. I felt that we accomplished a lot because we planted 5 trees and plants together, and Noelani was able to learn how nice it feels to work together with her fellow youth to accomplish a goal. We’re proud that the Church of Christ continues to help the community and their fellow man by holding INCGiving events, and we’re just grateful to be able to participate.” – Paul Alegado, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Paul and Noelani Alegado plant trees during the INCGiving Event Project ReLeaf to cover an area where the invasive plant called the Himalayan blackberry used to be. These newly planted native trees and shrubs will provide valuable habitat for local wildlife.

Prior to this tree planting activity, Noelani would have been sad to see the blackberry bushes in her neighbourhood removed. It may take some time before that actually happens, but when it does, she’ll know that the environment is better for it, and she won’t miss picking and eating those blackberries so much.

Joshua and Cecille Assim plant trees during the INCGiving Event Project ReLeaf.

Siblings, Migo and AJ Ibanez work together to plant trees for the INCGiving Event Project ReLeaf.

Noelani will remember instead how much she enjoyed planting trees, how proud she felt when she participated with her fellow Church of Christ/Iglesia Ni Cristo members in helping their community and how the new plants will give much needed food and shelter to the Surrey’s wildlife now and for the future. She’ll remember that a little goes a long way.

Contributed by: Myrtle Alegado, Surrey, BC, Canada

Caring For Our Coastline

Partnering with the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up, the #INCGiving volunteers in Victoria, British Columbia participated in a Shoreline Clean Up at Willows Beach. The hope of community events like this, is to educate residents and our neighbors to learn to take care of the environment; to help clean up marine debris and to encourage recycling.

Beaches everywhere are riddled with plastic & other debris – a shoreline epidemic that runs up and down the coast of Vancouver Island, as well as other beaches around the world. Plastic in the ocean leach toxins, which potentially enter our food chain, or is eaten by marine animals.

Human-created waste, whether deliberate or accidental – like dumping, container spills, litter washed into storm drains and waterways, and wind-blown landfill waste – contribute to this problem.

A recent article by onegreenplanet.org showed that the toxins that leach out from plastic are: BPA (Bisphenol-A) a known endocrine disruptor; phthalates – another endocrine disruptor; and styrene – a chemical found in styrofoam which may create respiratory problems when heated.

Styrofoam was part of the garbage collected and cleared during the shoreline clean up, along with small and big pieces of plastic, and cigarette butts By cleaning up the beaches of debris, we hope to reduce the amount of garbage and plastic that will ultimately end up in the ocean, thus keeping Earth healthy for future generations.

“I think that it brings us together and the benefit is it keeps the planet healthy,” stated by Jim H, a passerby.

All the volunteers were happy and excited to participate in this clean up, despite it being a weekend.

“It always makes me feel good when I’ve done something productive like this on a weekend instead of just sitting around at home all day. Doing this also helps me to appreciate the city that I live in.” stated by Jayper Sanchez – an INCGiving volunteer.

Appreciation of the beautiful neighborhood they lived in, motivates the INCGiving volunteers to ensure that Willows Beach and the environment will be taken cared of for future residents of their community.

Contributed by: Neil Duazo, Victoria, BC, Western Canada

Spreading Joy Through Songs

By today’s standards, it is getting more and more difficult for young people to connect to the older generation. With shorter attention spans, and more tech-savvy young children, when are the opportunities for the young and old to connect in a meaningful way? The answer lies in the simplest but most powerful gift to give – music.

The INC Kids from the Local Congregation of Surrey visited Elim Village Retirement Community to share their gift of song for their INCGIVING event, Singing for a Cause. Through their gift of music, even the tiniest voices were able to bring joy to the hearts of the residents.

And as one of the youth members began playing the piano – a hum could be heard in the air – one of the residents could not help but join along. Another unforgettable moment was when one of the residents lifted his hands as if he was directing the chorus, it was undeniable that he was having a lot of fun.

After serenading each floor of the retirement home, the feeling of joy was electric, a happy energy spreading from one child to the next– for they learned that there is no better feeling than the gift of giving.

Contributed by: Sister Archierose Natividad, Surrey, Canada