St Christopher House: Volunteer Stories And Photos : Eric Yam

Eric Yam - United Way Youth Award 2005

My big sister, Debbie who has volunteered at St. Chris for sometimes, was the one who introduced me to this wonderful United Way agency. When Debbie left for university, I asked Sherry, the coordinator for the Music School at St. Chris whether I could try out for Debbie’s position as the volunteer piano accompanist of the Toronto Song Lovers’ choir where Sherry is the conductor. She kindly agreed to train me, and I have been playing for the choir ever since. Our choir members perform everywhere and have great fun! Along with my big brother, Simon, I am a runner for St. Chris’ ‘Meals on Wheels’ and got to know Mirela, the lady who runs the program. Just recently, I’ve started to help out with the after school program held at St. Luke, a nearby elementary School through Beverley at St. Chris Youth program. I enjoy interacting with the active, young kids there! Along with other volunteers and staff, I have also participated in the St. Christopher House Community Sweep. We went from door to door to do surveys and find out how best we could serve the needs of the community surrounding St. Chris. To help us to know ourselves better and to improve our people skills, Jennifer, our Volunteer Co-ordinator and her staff, have organized many educational seminars for us volunteers. I try to attend them all as they are very useful and interesting!
Thanks to the nomination from St. Chris, I was the recipient of the 2005 Ontario Volunteer Service award, with Simon and some long term volunteers of St. Chris. The experience of being in the presence of many other volunteers, old and young, was a great inspiration to me. I hope that I will be helping out at St. Chris for years to come!

Annex Guardian

Boy, 12, honoured for his selfless volunteer work

CARRIE BRUNET

Jun. 24, 2005

Inspired by the work of a local social agency, 12-year-old Eric Yam decided he too should be a part of the solution.

"I witnessed many social injustices," said the boy who recently received an award from the United Way for his volunteer work. "I thought 'why not get involved.'"

As a preschooler, he attended St. Christopher House (at Dundas Street W. and Ossington Avenue), which gave him his first insight into the world of others.

"I really look to the community for my inspiration," said Yam.

While he said he was honoured by the award, Yam displayed great humility while speaking of it.

"If I am recognized, then I would believe that many other people should be recognized as well," he said. "No matter how small the deed, they still have done a lot to help the community."

In fact, Yam said he would like to share the award with his community as a way to symbolize everyone's contributions.

"I want to pass the award on to everyone else," he said.

This is the first year the United Way has opened its annual "Get in the Way" awards to elementary-aged children.

Yam, said Zenia Wadhwani, manager of Youth and Gen. Next Markets at United Way, was most deserving.

"A lot of what Eric did really spoke to his initiative," said Wadhwani. "His references noted how outgoing he was. He would be the person to start a project."

Across the city, the United Way relies on about 20,000 volunteers annually to make their organization tick.

A student at University of Toronto School (an Annex-based private school) Yam is actively involved in his school's Equity Council, which addresses bullying, has organized an organ and tissue donation information booth and helped with bake sales that raised $1,500 for Tsunami relief earlier this year.

Yam also created a multicultural festival celebrating religious and ethnic diversity and he is a runner for Meals-On-Wheels.

For a young boy, Yam has great ambitions.

He plans to become an engineer so he can later join an international organization called "Engineers without Borders" to help countries that need experienced engineers to build infrastructure in their cities.

He also wants to be an active part of the Chinese Canadian Council's fight for redress of the head tax on Chinese Immigrants charged in the 1920s.

The council is seeking an apology and financial compensation for the immigrants that were charged $500 just for being Chinese.

"I will fight for that in the future, until we get an apology from the Canadian government," said Yam.

And despite his lofty ambitions, he promises to not forget his roots.

"And I will always serve St. Christopher House," he said.