Earlier this year I pledged to do 3 Things for Calgary. One of them was cheering for the Flames. That’s not happening with the state of the NHL, so I have volunteered for my community association instead.

The Calgary municipal system is very different from Vancouver. Since it is one big super city instead of more than a dozen smaller municipalities, much of the micr decision making is passed down to local community associations.

I live in West Springs Cougar Ridge, an area of about 1000 homes. A volunteer group of people run the community association doing things like petitioning the city for traffic adjustments, dealing with developers on local interests, organizing activities like skating and soccer, and throwing Stampede breakfasts.

I attended my first meeting in September, and it was apparent right away that my timing was perfect. The community association had no social media presence, and the website had been injected with malware putting it in quarantine. Workarounds were in place, but a rebuild was needed. A contractor had bid $10 000 for the project, and while the association was debating the idea, I volunteered to rebuild the site.

Now, 3 months later, I am proud to unveil a completely rebuilt website for the West Springs Cougar Ridge Community Association. We also have an active Twitter account and a growing Facebook community.

Thanks to a Mayor that encourages people to get out, and use their skills to better the community where they live. I’ve long touted the co-operative community spirit of Calgary as one of the reasons why I love living here. Now that I’ve rolled up my sleeves and poured some of my own sweat into the fabric, my community means even more to me.

Anazibg! RT @buzzbishop: .@nenshi asked that we do #3thingsyyc. So I volunteered for @wscrca and rebuilt website: wscr.ca #yyc

— Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) November 28, 2012

Even better when the Mayor acknowledges your efforts and says it is “Anazibg!”

Tags: calgary