Community

At Evolving Media & Design, Jeff Poissant believes passionately in giving back to the community.

2004, he moved his family to the Glengarry Area in Eastern Ontario.

“My family and I considered establishing our roots in the region,” he says. “Our daughter was a newborn, so we had time to study the landscape.”

In 2006, Heinz Kaswurm of the Georgian House Restaurant and Day Spa, a friend of Jeff and a client.

“He approached me and asked if I would consider being a board member of the Friends of Glengarry Trails Association, a not-for-profit organization with limited funds.”

Looking back on life after that invitation brought back many memories.

“I spent ten years as a board member, part of the Outreach Committee. You can look at what I did while I was part of the Glengarry Trails here,” explains Jeff.

“In 2009, my daughter and I started helping the Alexandria Festival of Lights. She was five years old, the youngest volunteer to this day. I joined the committee and took over publicizing the event. I created all the promotional ads, banners, and the website. During the Festival of Lights, my daughter would help make hot chocolate for the visitors, hand out candy, and direct people to the wagon rides. She was right in there. We spent five years participating; it was a weekly affair.

Every Saturday morning for nine months, my daughter and I helped. It was amazing watching my five-year-old checking large rolls of Christmas lights to see if any lights were broken or burnt out, wrapping Christmas lights on the fence rails or decorating the trees at Island Park with Bonnie MacDonald.”

And that wasn’t all.

“In 2010, my family got involved in the Terry Fox Run in Alexandria. We helped Doug Boechk and the Glengarry Trails. Designed the Ad, helped place signs around town, and took photos and videos. My wife was stationed at the water stop while our daughter ran 10 to 13 km. We participated in the Terry Fox Run in Alexandria every year except three.

In 2016, we ran in Ottawa. The other two years, we were not available, bad timing.”

Jeff is ready with an explanation when asked why this is so important.

“Look at any community across Canada; you will see many organizations that need help or require expertise, or sometimes an organization needs able bodies to do some grunt work. Many are small and run by volunteers with limited budgets.

In 2024, many of these organizations are losing their volunteer base. Volunteers are getting older. They pass away; they lose interest or, as is so often, burn out. Significantly fewer young people participate because they have their interests, crusades, and smart devices.”

That’s why volunteering is life-changing.