I think you can tell I spend too much time on Instagram when I was about to start this by saying, “This is a shout-out post,” when I’m actually doing a member’s statement—but it’s a shout-out member’s statement.

When I was 15, I did my 40 hours of community service at a place called Pride Stables, which now actually happens to be in my riding. Pride Stables is part of the Central Ontario Developmental Riding Program, so it is a stable that is part of an organization that seeks to give a therapeutic riding experience to people with disabilities, both mental and physical, and predominantly children with disabilities.

In the summer, they run something called Camp Pride, which is a fully integrated day camp. You can have children with disabilities and children without disabilities attending the same camp, which is a huge asset for parents wanting to keep their kids together. I saw on social media over the summer that they were having a hard time getting enough volunteers, and I decided, “Well, I am in charge of my own schedule,” so I spent a week volunteering for the Camp Pride riding camp. It was a wonderful experience.

In my personal life, I don’t have cause to spend a lot of time with kids, full stop, or particularly with kids with disabilities or with autism, and seeing the grace that the other volunteers and instructors handled their charges with was incredible. So I want to shout out to Kassidy and Merissa, the instructors, and Amanda, the volunteer coordinator.

And if you can volunteer, always do.