Creating community

Indio Outdoor Resort’s community came together to fight cancer

The word home conjures many images. Home connotes friends, family, the house we now own or the house we grew up in, a yard, children slamming the front door as they run out to play, and our neighbours who create the community in which we live. Home is important to us humans, whether we never stray far from our abode or we take it with us wherever we go.

For full-time or snowbirding RVers, home is where the mail goes. But even nomads create communities. Many of the RVers we profile have established longstanding friendships with RVers they meet on the road or in the resorts where they set up home for months at a time—and in doing so, they find their home away from home.

Oh, give me a home

Earl Andrusiak and his wife, Liz, found their second home in Indio, California.

The Andrusiaks are from Edmonton, Alberta, and like many other RVers, they bought a motorhome upon retiring. They’ve travelled around North America—to 46 American states and nine Canadian provinces—and three years ago, they purchased a lot at the Indio Outdoor Resort, a place Earl describes as “a second Garden of Eden.”

There was a lot to love about their new home—the Andrusiaks enjoy the desert and California dreamin’—but the community was one of the highlights. Two years ago, the first annual Sunshine Invitational Charity Event was held at the resort as a means of fostering community and raising money for cancer research.

“The first year we ran it, we raised $9,600,” said Earl. “This year, on March 2nd, we raised $18,458 . . . and half of it has been donated to the American Cancer Society and half will be going to the Canadian Cancer Society.”

Cancer touches many communities, and the residents of the Indio Outdoor Resort are no exception. The resort is a mix of regular Canadian and American RVers; some of them have purchased lots while others rent. They come from all over, with different histories, views and cultures, but many of the residents of the resort have had their families ravaged by cancer and had a common desire to make a difference in the battle against the disease.

Collective spirit

Earl said one of the resort’s residents, Jane Burnett, came up with the idea for the Sunshine Invitational Charity Event as a way of raising money for cancer research and bringing the resort community together.

“Virtually the entire resort participates in this volunteer event,” said Earl. “Some volunteer, some compete, some donate prizes, some prepare food, some auctioneer, some help set it up and some take it down.”

The one-day event starts with the singing of both national anthems—Canadian and American—followed by a lighting of luminaires signifying people who have been lost to cancer. Activities during the day include golf, tennis, pickle ball, bocce ball and ATV tours, among others. There are live auction items, hotrod displays, works of art created by resort residents and more. The day concludes by honouring cancer survivors and their caregivers.

“It was a really feel-good day where everybody came together for a common cause,” said Earl. “You forget your own little troubles when you see everybody working hard in some small way.”

The goal is to invite a member of the community to share an activity as a means of creating or enhancing friendships and introducing a pastime to someone new, said Earl. And the event has two rewards—contributing several thousand dollars toward cancer research and strengthening the bonds between these nomads.

“This is one day where we focus all of our attention on one thing,” said Earl. “Both are equally important, though—the fundraising and the camaraderie.”
If home is where the heart is, these RVers have certainly found a reason to keep going home.

Resource: www.orindio.com