As you have learned by now, Dave and I have day jobs. We both work for TELUS here in Edmonton. One of the things I am most proud of about working at TELUS is knowing how much we give back to the community. I don't just mean how much $$$ TELUS donates to charities, I really mean how much time and energy the people who work at TELUS put into making our communities a better place throughout the year.

There is one special day each year we call the TELUS Day of Giving. It is a day where a massive amount of employees of TELUS bombard the cities we live in to give back.

This year I was asked to photograph a few of the events around town. The first event was one that I took part in last year... the River Valley Cleanup. What is that? Picking up garbage! Yup! This year it was the Kinsmen Park. We scoured each and every crevice of that park to ensure it was spotless.

Dave and his family (wife Derrique, daughter Ivy and son Elliott) joined this event as well (they are in the picture above, top left). Dave being there was a HUGE help when it came time to take the photo shown above. In case you can't tell what it is, it is the giant group of volunteers forming the TELUS "flying t" logo followed by the word "cares". I made my way up to the High Level Bridge to get the bird's-eye view of the group. Using our amazing modern-day technology I communicated with Dave to co-ordinate the whole thing. We talked via cell phone for the most part but when it was difficult to explain what I was seeing I would take a photo with my camera phone and send it to him via text. From those images he was able to get the group to form the proper look. It was a great challenge and I couldn't have done it without his help.

After the River Valley Cleanup I made my way to the Crystal Kids Youth Centre in town. The TELUS volunteers were cooking and serving a great hamburger lunch to the kids. Oh yeah, and we donated $20 000 as well!! This Centre is an amazing place for kids to spend their time and I was so proud that my company was able to give that much money to help them out. The kids certainly loved their lunch and I'm sure the money will go to good use.

- brad