Chinese community in P.E.I. gives kudos to volunteers who participated in Canada Games
Members of the Chinese community in Prince Edward Island gave a huge thanks Saturday to the volunteers who represented them at the 2023 Canada Games.
Over 60 volunteers attended an event hosted by the Chinese Canadian Association of P.E.I. celebrating their participation during the two weeks the Games were happening in P.E.I.
The association says the work of the volunteers shows that people in the community will show up to help when there's a need,
"During the volunteer work in the past two weeks, we have met a lot of other Chinese-Canadian volunteers from P.E.I. that we never knew before," said Lannia Pan MacAleer, one of the association's leaders.
"It was a pity that we didn't have a chance to get to know each other. And also we thought this would be a great opportunity for the Chinese Canadian Association of P.E.I. to officially say thank you, to appreciate their hard work."
Pan MacAleer said that one of the main reasons the association wanted to host the event was to encourage newcomers to become more involved in the local community, taking other volunteer roles or participating in charity events.
"We all love P.E.I., we all love Canada. That's why we chose this place to be our second home and we are enjoying great benefit in culture … and we love to give back to local community, to help, to grow together."
Huamin Xu has been on the Island for over two decades and has been involved with the association for years. He said as the Chinese community continues to grow on the Island, the association has tried to encourage members to open up more and participate in the broader community.
The association has about 1,000 members.
"In the past we shared our small circle," he said. "But now we want to encourage people to be able to … integrate into the society.
"That's one thing. Second is we really want to give big thanks to all those volunteers. That's amazing."
Yong Zhou came to P.E.I. with his family in 2021. He and his 16-year-old son volunteered during the Games.
Zhou worked at several sites, including Crabbe Mountain in New Brunswick, where the alpine skiing took place. That's a 400-kilometre round trip.
"It's a once-in-life opportunity here for every person," he said.
"When I moved here [what] touched me was I saw people help each other and contribute to the society. And I wished to … contribute to my society. Help others."
Violinist Tzu-Cheng Wang, who's from Taiwan, played some music for the volunteers. He was joined by his wife and daughter.
Wang was one of the people who helped carry the Canada Games torch across P.E.I. before the opening ceremony.
"I think it's really important because [we] have a lot of Chinese volunteers," he said.
