Name: Felicity Niles-Williams
Volunteering Since: Spring 2015
Volunteers as: Community Liaison, Tree Blitzer, Tree Planter, Aftercare Attendant
Autobiography: I attend A.B. Lucas Secondary School. I moved to London from Toronto a couple of years ago and I can honestly say I didn’t like it at first, being a big-city-kind-of-girl. But after a while the Forest City grew on me. I learn to love all the green and all the trees! Aside from that I’m interested in most sports and I’m very competitive. As a result, when I do things I like to be the best at it. Thus, I always strive to do things to the best of my abilities in order to reach my goals, sometimes even surpass them. I also enjoy helping others, which is why I’d like to study medicine in the future, and have a career in healthcare. Also I enjoy reading and writing. Furthermore, when I was younger I used to be a girl guide, and it taught me so many things. One of which was to enjoy, and appreciate nature, wildlife, as well as the ecosystems within it. From then on I’ve always loved nature, enjoyed camping, cannoning, fishing, four-wheeling, and gardening.
I’m really excited for this upcoming school year, and I’m hoping to join a lot more clubs and sports but most of all to volunteer a lot more for my community. Since I started high school my goal was to get myself involved in new things. To start with, I continued my studies in French. I also picked up a new language, Spanish. As well as learning the art of Drama, joining Year Book Club, Modelling, volunteering at Reforest London, and more recently volunteering at the Masonville Animal Hospital. Doing all these things was so much fun for me but I enjoyed working with ReForest London the most.
Reflections on Volunteering : Originally when I went to my first tree planting event in May, all I wanted was a few volunteer hours. However, after all the trees were planted I felt really proud about all the work that was done, and very happy about contributing to the environment. It sparked my new found interest in the environment. As a result, there and then I decided that I’d continue to attend more tree planting events. I started to come more often, and familiarize myself with ReForest London. I learned so much about ReForest London, as well as met all the kind, and dedicated staff members there whom are so passionate and enthusiastic about trees! I volunteer for ReForest London now because it makes me so happy to give back to my community, the environment, and be part of the efforts of such and amazing cause, to undo peoples impact on the environment. I am more than proud to say that “I Dig Trees for ReForest London!”
ReForest London has a big goal to accomplish—one million trees in ten years is a lot of trees! However, it’s okay because it doesn’t matter how many we plant, just one tree makes all the difference. We can do it, I know we can! ReForest London has started something that is so important—helping to rebuild London ecosystems! People sometimes forget the severity of their impact on the environment and how important trees are. ReForest London brings awareness to that issue, and informs Londoners of all the ways we can help, such as, participating in tree planting events, tree aftercare, and neighbourhood tree blitz. Everyone who has ever helped ReForest London has helped London truly be the Forest City. Hopefully other cities across Canada will follow ReForest London’s footsteps and start replanting trees and soon enough we will reduce Canada’s ecological footprint.