Alice Lam is the co-founder of Good Neighbour, which is the first pay-what-you-want thrift store in the city of Calgary and it’s completely volunteer-run. The store opened 3 months ago and has been a hub of connections, and a way to create a more inclusive and sustainable city. But before co-founding Good Neighbour, Alice had a long history of volunteering. In this episode, we chat about the story of her parents fleeing Vietnam because of the communist regime, how that’s shaped the types of causes she’s passionate about, and the societal challenges that we are facing right now.

Highlights & Takeaways

• For a long time, she had an identity crisis of not feeling like she belonged to her ethnic culture, but also not feeling like she belonged in Canada either. This contributed to her always searching for community and trying to reconnect with her roots and find herself
• Volunteering to read to immigrant children instilling a strong impression of how valuable volunteers are in the community and helping people become better versions of themselves
• Volunteering helps you find people who share the same intrinsic values as you and how you can find volunteering opportunities suited for you
• The impact and inspiration behind Volly (an app to help people find volunteering opportunities), and Good Neighbour 
• Why she feels like we're on a race against time in terms of solving societal problems and wanting to help people who have passionate ideas

Resources Mentioned

• Contact Alice Lam: [email protected] | Twitter
• Good Neighbour YYC
• Tigerstedt Flea Market
• Calgary Community Fridge

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