By: Mattan, Community Engagement Coordinator
Today marks the end of my CEC internship at ETCBC! Overall, it has been quite an amazing experience, and a summer I won’t soon forget. I came into this summer hoping to learn new things and enjoy my last summer before moving to university. Now wrapping up this summer, I can say that I was able to accomplish both goals. Here are some initiatives that I was a part of in my final two weeks.
ET was able to host a Toronto Public Health organized vaccination clinic this Thursday! I found it exciting to advertise to the community around our church, just as Angela and I were able to do a couple weeks ago at Parma Court. It was only more exciting with the combined efforts of the children’s ministry interns, ~10 volunteers from our church, and 5 hubsters. While there weren’t too many people getting vaccinated yesterday, this clinic was a success as we got to interact with many members of the surrounding neighbourhood.
A particular highlight of my summer was meeting and working with these Vic Village hubsters. Last Friday, Angela and I hosted a successful joint program between ETCBC youth fellowships and the Hubsters at a local park. I loved seeing people from both youth groups interacting with each other, whether it was the icebreakers, games, or snacks afterwards. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen larger numbers of them coming to the Thursday meetups. This has really encouraged me to continue to build relationships with our church community and make them feel welcomed.
Lastly, I had a final debrief with Sam today. It was so great to discuss what I’ve learned throughout the internship and summer, as well as Sam’s plans for outreach in the upcoming months. While the past two summers have changed certain aspects of this position such as events, I have still benefited greatly from all the learning opportunities provided to me. Thank you for reading my blog posts from this summer, as I call this edition my last for now. :)