The obstacles that Eastwood Community League faced were numerous and diverse and among the most devastating to face a community. The facilities had been neglected and vandalized, garbage had piled up inside the hall and out, homeless people were sleeping in the ruins of the rink area, and the playground was used as a home base for trafficking of drugs and sex. Graffiti marred the buildings and criminals hung out where children should have had a place for play and community should have been thriving.
The list of needs was long, but because one person, Sue Evenson, stumbled unwittingly into the board, a new focus was brought to the Community League. With a view to simply cleaning up the books, and restoring simple honest bookkeeping and accountability, a long process began. It was just a matter of course, that while the books were being dealt with, the other issues the league faced arose, and one by one, and movements started happening. The Salvation Army came with volunteer hands, Councillor Gibbens directed the league to the Rotary Club for funds, additional local associations and our good hearted seniors, also rose for the occasion and before it could be stopped the ball was rolling for renovation and rebuild projects. Add more volunteer time, Fine Options graffiti painting, and over the course of the last several years, a playground, a spray park, new skating rink shack and boards, and a renovated hall were all completed.
With the persistence of the hall manager, Norm Aldi, elected in 2004, crime reports went to the police relentlessly and crime prevention tools such as good lighting were implemented. The result has been an extreme reduction in vandalism and an inflation in cooperative effort from community members wanting to take their neighborhood back. Sue said this is the result of many hands at work, often the poorest and busiest hands, but it was the determination to do what was right, and leave the league a better place. Sue’s determination was the driving force, and with the help of a multitude of volunteers, Eastwood Community League has risen from what seemed overwhelming odds to become an inspiration for any volunteer group.
To help the city have insight into the volunteers that make up the richness of growing neighborhoods, Shaw Cable has approached EFCL to interview outstanding volunteers over the course of the next year as a source for a series of community league highlight spots on their news channel. Eastwood is our first featured league.
Check online for updates as to when the show will air.
|