We invite volunteers to celebrate the valuable contribution that immigrants bring to society. We give thanks for the artistic spirit and opened doors that past generations of the Plomchok family have left us by sharing their creativity. Their legacy is their unique understanding that any materials at hand can be used to make life more beautiful in a myriad of ways. Their paths taken to build not break help show us how to add meaning and purpose, reflection and sharing to help better our lives, persevere through challenges and even thrive.
ASI has touched so many lives due to a volunteer women’s group teaching my grandmother Mary Plomchok about the arts who in turn shared her experiences with her younger siblings who she looked after while both her parents worked and later her children and grandchildren. As a daughter of a Tannery Factory Worker and Washer Woman who were both illiterate and sacrificed to feed a large family, she had little opportunity to make her life better and yet she did.
Education re-imagined through the arts helps us see the beauty that surrounds us all once given the tools to observe and learn from it. Whether noticing the song of a bird and imitating it, recognizing the species whenever you hear it and then building a personal connection by being inspired to hum your own tune to sing back or designing a sign in response to all the billboards on a road, the arts keep us engaged in what is and help us share what could be.