My first time Volunteering
Valerie Fong
As a little girl, I always watched the parade on television with my family. The vibe isn’t the same versus being there live, experiencing it first hand. My parents went to see it live a long time ago, and then when I was born, there was never a good time to go. This was my first experience being at the parade live and the vibe was amazing. You can’t justify it by watching the parade on television. It felt like a big baseball game where people are laughing, talking, and just being together to celebrate an event.
I didn’t know we could volunteer for this big event and wanted to volunteer with my friends to celebrate our culture. We were able to have fun and just to experience the celebration of our culture with others. As a volunteer, our responsibilities were to walk alongside a float to make sure our spot is flowing freely, to make sure they don’t get too close to the people in front of them and also to make sure that bystanders or spectators don’t run or interfere the right of way.
The main reason that I wanted to be a volunteer was to see the parade live and to see the dragon and the fireworks. That’s the best part! The television doesn’t get all of the angles of showing the fireworks and the dragon. Just being here in person, is amazing. The comrade and the vibes were amazing! I also learned that you get a really cool patch every- time you volunteer. I am going to try and collect all of them since the Rat was the first one on the wheel. Each experience will be different but better!
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
