Snow Angels take care of their neighbours, shovelling sidewalks and driveways after major snowfalls for those who need a helping hand.
“We encourage volunteers in the Town and MD of Bonnyville to help their neighbours by shovelling their sidewalk and driveway,” explained Jennifer Lasouski, administrative support for the the Bonnyville and District FCSS.
Diahann Polege-Aulotte, community programmer for the local FCSS, said the program is available for seniors, people with low mobility issues, young families, or anyone who needs assistance.
The signs, which can be picked up at the Bonnyville FCSS, let people know you need help clearing snow.
Polege-Aulotte believes it’s “good to be kind to your neighbour.”
“It gets you out into the community to potentially meet new people and to do random acts of kindness, which is always good in a community,” she added.
In previous years, the signs regarding the program implored people to volunteer as a Snow Angel. A new batch of signs were made this year, and will be featured on people’s properties that need help clearing snow.
Polege-Aulotte explained, “We’ve had some confusion in the past about what the program is, and people feel that if they have a sign that means somebody will automatically shovel their sidewalk. It doesn’t happen that way, so this year we had new signs made so that it’s easier to identify who wants their sidewalks shovelled.”
“If you do happen to see someone in your community that happens to have a sign, then we encourage you to volunteer or help out a neighbour and shovel their driveway,” expressed Lasouski. “We do have a lot of seniors that phone, they want to stay in their homes but they just need a little bit of assistance during the winter. Doing the program encourages people to help those individuals stay in their home.”
While it may not seem like a lot, Lasouski stressed the importance of someone in need having their walkway clear.
“I think it’s less of a stress for them to know that it’s taken care of and that they’re able to travel out of their home and into their home with ease instead of worrying about slipping and falling.”
With the recent snowfalls over the past couple of weeks, volunteers could see even more signs popping up.
“We didn’t have that many signs out... but that’s not a (reflection) to the program. It just means we haven’t had that much snow yet this year,” Polege-Aulotte stressed, adding she’s expecting more residents to pick-up their signs.
For more information call the Bonnyville FCSS at 780-826-2120.
