Diane has lived and worked in the Riley Park neighbourhood for almost 20 years, and her first LMNHS volunteer experience was with the Yard Garden Harvest Project in 2022. As a lifelong gardener she found her happy place in neighbours’ yards—growing vegetables alongside fellow volunteers practising sustainable gardening, and contributing to the creation of pollinator-friendly and diverse urban foodscapes. After updating her skills with the Master Gardener course at VanDusen Botanical Garden last year she continued her garden volunteering and mentoring with both the YGHP and RPCG. She is now helping to build the Learning Garden, where community members can gather to learn about plants of significance to Coast Salish peoples.
Why is volunteering important to you?
For me, it’s community connection. It’s getting to know my neighbours, it’s a chance to share my skills and expertise, to help people. Being outside and putting your hands in the soil is very therapeutic for people, including myself, and so I find that you know, you have a long day at work, or you’re trying to solve a problem, or you need a little time to yourself, you just go to the garden. There’s a Japanese phrase, they call it “forest bathing”, and it’s just being in nature, just letting yourself enjoy your surroundings. Green spaces are more and more important, when so many of us are apartment dwellers who don’t have a green space, and so these become extra important as we densify our living situation.
What do you think is special about LMNHS or neighbourhood houses in general?
I’m continually amazed by the number of volunteers, the diversity of volunteers. We have everyone, from high school students to 80-year-olds. It makes me so happy that there’s that group of people, 200 to 300 people, who just want to support the work that is going on Little Mountain, and I think that’s a tribute to the House, the programs, the people that pour their heart into creating this environment for people to enjoy and access.
Do you have any advice for current or prospective volunteers about getting more involved at LMNHS?
Just come and hang out. I guarantee that if you come and volunteer you will come back. I think that one of the things that LMNHS does so well is the volunteer experience. It’s not just come and work and do what we’re doing. But it’s come and enjoy yourself, learn a new skill, and we always gather around the table with some food and share our stories and our backgrounds. You learn so much, not just in the garden and the skill of gardening, but you learn so much about other things by talking to people who have different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. I think we do that so well at the neighbourhood house, we embrace all that diversity, and I think that’s what creates that cultural safe space where people feel comfortable sharing their stories and what goes on in their life.