The following is the text of a speech I read at the farewell volunteer appreciation party for The Local Good on 9 Nov 2023. I gave ten years of my life to volunteering in whatever role was needed with TLG, over time holding pretty much every role as we grew and took on new projects, before burnout and family responsibilities forced me to step back into the advisory role of Past-Chair. After going on hiatus in the spring of 2020, the remaining volunteers were never able to recapture the magic and made the heartbreaking decision to dissolve our provincial society status. Our website and social media channels have disappeared, so I plan to repost some photos and articles from the archives here over the coming month or so.
SPEECH: Saying so long to The Local Good (Edmonton) (Dec 2007 - Nov 2023)
First, I’d like to acknowledge that we are Treaty people, living in amiskwaciwâskahikan in Treaty 6 territory, a gathering place since time immemorial of the vibrant cultures of Turtle Island - including the Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Haudenosaunee, Dene, Anishinaabe, Siksika, Inuit, and many others. We are guests here; may we honour all our responsibilities to our hosts and other-than-human relations.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Deb Merriam, and I volunteered with The Local Good from 2008 to 2018 in a variety of roles. Before becoming a volunteer about a year after their founding, I attended most of their monthly workshops.
The Local Good (and previously, Edmontonians Supporting A Green Economy) was a grassroots, volunteer-run organization dedicated to fostering sustainability and resilience in our community by acting as a nonpartisan networking hub to showcase local expertise, support local independently-owned businesses, and lift the voices of those without a larger platform. We formed (alongside Live Local Alberta) following community meetings on how to create a sustainable city in autumn 2007. We considered ourselves part of the Transition Towns and Local Living Economies movements, in reaction to the detrimental effects of globalization and climate change on communities.
Our hope was that by highlighting the best in our city and facilitating conversations about important issues and emerging ideas, we’d foster creation of projects and partnerships that transformed Edmonton into a resilient and sustainable community with a culture of belonging, social advocacy, and environmental responsibility.
Some of the resulting projects were our own work, including: our newsletter, social media, and volunteer-written blog; shop-local and active-citizenship campaigns; a seminar series by local sustainability experts (2007-2013); the Slow Dialogue Edmonton workshop; Green Drinks Edmonton, a monthly networking event we inherited from Young Environmental Professionals in 2011; The Good Hundred Experiment (2012-2015) conferences; 7 Cash Mobs (plus a tree planting mob!); and Edmonton Resilience Festival(which we created and ran in 2015 & 2016 while Edmonton Permaculture Guild built their capacity to take it
on).
Like most grassroots, volunteer-run groups run on shoestring budgets, passion and idealism,The Local Good
had limitations. We were entirely reliant on volunteers, without any expertise in preventing burnout. Our
commitment to ensuring events were low-cost created budget problems and exacerbated the burnout. As our
reach was limited by changing social media algorithms, we found ourselves in an echo chamber that
unintentionally excluded marginalized voices, despite diligent efforts toward inclusion and balance. Our focus
on in-person events as the way to build grassroots momentum around issues left us vulnerable to losing all
momentum during the pandemic lockdowns.
However, we also had tremendous success in helping iconic local businesses and shopping districts, creating bridges between academia, civil service, nongovernmental orgs, and local business where none had previously existed, and fostering community and awareness of other local groups. Our emphasis on building a stage and then spotlighting other organizations and businesses, and our policy of generously resharing posts and projects by other groups to increase their visibility, remains unusual despite its effectiveness.
I was so proud to be part of this talented group of volunteers who did so much with so little. With love and
gratitude, I’d to acknowledge all our team members over the years: Adam, Alexis, Alison, Ally, Arielle, Asia,
Breanna, Catherine, Chris G, Chris K, Conrad, Courtney, Danielle, Diana, Gloria, Hannah, Jason, Jessica, Jude,
Julie, Kerstyn, Kim, Leila, Les, Lindsay, Nadine, Nathan, Rayleigh, Robyn, Sarah, Stephanie, Terra, Tommy,
Tonia, Toscha, and Wes, plus a couple of you who came after my time; our blog writers and events volunteers,
too numerous to list; our founders Tad and Maureen; and everyone who gave a talk, taught a skill, or acted as a
featured expert at the events we organized. I also want to thank my family for supporting my work on all
The Local Good's projects.
Please continue to create and support local independently-owned businesses, arts walks, block parties, cash mobs, clothing swaps, community leagues, craft guilds, cycling societies, disability advocates, environmentalists, farmers markets, festivals, front-yard gardens, fruit rescue societies, gay-straight alliances, housing co-operatives, Indigenous initiatives, land protection trusts, makers, minority-led organizations, musicians, permaculture guilds, pop-up parks, pride marches, regenerative farmers, repair cafes, renewable energy home tours, skill sharing events, Slow Food groups, solarpunks, social justice advocates, Transition Towns, tool libraries, urban foresters, unions, writers, and activists. Keep building a better world.
Keep loving local and doing good. We’re passing the torch to you.
XO - Deborah
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