Submitted by Alaine Kowal – The Optimistic Citizen Volume 1, Issue 1
Chances are good you have seen at least one of these young ladies volunteering in and around the town of High River. If you have been living in the town longer than six months, most likely, you have seen both of them unselfishly giving themselves to a number of groups and causes in our community. Sisters, Tammy Beach and Kathy Lambourn, have been volunteering for a combined total of 55 years.
Here are their stories:
Tammy Beach
Tammy is older than Kathy by 5 years and therefore has a 5 year head start on her younger sister. Tammy has been volunteering for 30 years and numerous groups and committees have benefited by her tireless and selfless hours. In a world where it seems there is never enough money or time, many agencies and groups rely on volunteers to get things done. Tammy is driven to volunteer by the understanding that things don’t always get done by paid help.
Her main passion is any event that will benefit the community and the youth in it. For her paid job, Tammy is a Youth Development Coach at Spitzee School. She has been working with youth in the Foothills School Division for 23 years.
“There is such a sense of pride you feel when you’re a part of something that’s successful – and even if it’s not an end result that you were expecting, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Being a volunteer is totally a win/win situation – for me, its not only a way to give back, but it’s a social scenario as well. I’ve met the most amazing people in my volunteer commitments that I would not have known otherwise. I think it’s important to enter into a volunteer experience with goals in mind – for me, the first goal is always how is this going to benefit the group I’m volunteering for? And a second goal – how will it help me grow as a person and in turn be a role model for those I volunteered with and for?”
Now that Tammy’s three kids are graduated from High School, she has even more time to give. She is currently the president of the High River Citizens on Patrol. She considers this position to be a learning curve for her but one that she feels strongly about stepping into. A group of High Riverites, Tammy and Kathy included, brought the Citizens on Patrol organization back from its dormant state after the flood. She said she was “tired of our community being targeted after the flood – it seemed that people were having too many instances of personal property being stolen from their own homes while we were recovering from the 2013 disaster. At the time, it seemed one of the only things I could do to make a difference and again, I’ve met some pretty awesome people I never would have had I not jumped on board.
Tammy’s Resume:
- Hockey
- Board member
- Manager
- Jersey Mom
- Committee member for both Peewee A 2016 and Atom A 2017 Provincials
- Kraft Hockeyville committee in 2011 and 2018
- Opening Day/Hockey Day in High River Coordinator – following the High River Flood when the Rec Plex was able to re-open
- World Junior Hockey Tournament – 2012 – she considers this to be the highlight of her volunteer career – “…that was such an amazing experience…”
- Baseball
- Manager of son’s team
- Casino Volunteer
- Tammy does this for numerous organizations – this is one of her favorite volunteer activities. “It’s a short amount of time to invest that can benefit an organization immensely.”
- Citizens on Patrol
- President since 2015
- Town of High River
- Recreation Board for 8 years
- Community Vitality Advisory Committee for 1 year
- Schools
- Parent volunteer whenever possible
- Balloon Festival
- Crew member for all 5 years the balloon festival has been in High River
- Parade Committee Member
- Little Britches Parade
- Santa Clause Parade
Tammy was also nominated to be a part of the Canada 150 Committee, along with two others for High River. They planned and put forth the idea to pave the remainder of the Happy Trails, in the west end, as part of the Legacy Project. Their bid was successful, and construction will start this spring, (whenever it arrives).
If you would like to work with Tammy, she said they would love to have more volunteers for Citizens on Patrol and it is easy to join. Simply go to the local RCMP detachment and they will hook you up with an application. Be sure to take two pieces of ID as you will be required to do a Criminal Record Check.
Kathy Lambourn
Kathy is a mom of one lovely daughter. She works as an Adult Support Worker, Clinic Coordinator, Preg Chat Facilitator, and does some family support for Foothills Fetal Alcohol Society where she has been working for 5 years.
She says her drive to volunteer comes from the desire to help people. And believes that doing something good for someone else always makes a person feel good about themselves. “I think that would be my main purpose of volunteering, is helping my own mental health and feeling good about doing something for someone else.”
Kathy’s Resume
- Casino Volunteer
- Highwood High School Wrestling Team
- Senator Riley
- Joe Clark School
- Spitzee School
- High River Swim Club
- Masonic Hall
- Blackie Ag Society
- Friends of the High River Library
- Foothills Fetal Alcohol Society
- Literacy for Life
- High River Flyers Hockey Club
- AIM Society
- Has volunteered for the Canada Day run on July 1st for the past two years
- Friends of the High River Library
- Been a board member for 10 years
- 3rd year as President
- Balloon Festival
- 4th year volunteering and plans on volunteering this year
- Citizens on Patrol