My name is Jenny Mitchell, and I'm the Volunteer and Mobile Studio Coordinator for CFRU, Guelph's Campus and Community Radio Station.

When CFRU decided to temporarily close the radio station to our volunteers and public, my first thought was that I wouldn’t have any work to do, I wouldn’t have volunteers to work with, and I’d have to cancel my Mobile Studio projects. Then my perspective shifted. I was looking through posts on the newly created Facebook page: ’CareMongering Guelph—Leaning Into Community During COVID19’, and saw beautiful and generous offers from folks with cars, offering to pick up groceries, supplies, etc. I too have a car, but it didn’t seem like there was any lack of that form of support. So I tried to think what I could offer that hadn’t been suggested yet, something that I’d be uniquely suited to offer. I thought about my comfort with strangers, my endless capacity and passion for stories, and decided to offer myself and my platform at the radio station for people who wanted to connect and share ideas, feelings and perspectives.

In the time since then, many of our station operations have opened up and returned to our previous “normal” but I have found that the benefit of connecting, and to sharing people’s stories has remained incredibly valuable - especially the stories from folks who may face some barriers to having their stories heard on platforms like this. So the work continues! Thank you for listening. Feel free to reach out to volunteer@cfru.ca