ECSSEN Career School Career Development Department IgniteYouth Club Attends Taste of Asia 2026 // 爱心学校职业发展部IgniteYouth俱乐部参加2026亚洲美食节

From Thursday, August 20th to Sunday, August 23rd, the ECSSEN Career School Career Development Department’s IgniteYouth Club attended the Taste of Asia Food Festival in Downtown Calgary! The four-day event brought together some of Calgary’s best Asian food vendors, along with youth volunteer organizations like ECSSEN’s own IgniteYouth Club.

8月20日至8月23日，爱心学校职业发展部的IgniteYouth俱乐部参加了在卡尔加里市中心举办的亚洲美食节！为期四天的美食节汇聚了卡尔加里一些最优秀的亚洲美食摊位，以及像爱心学校IgniteYouth俱乐部这样的青年志愿者组织。

However, for our youth club, much of the preparation for the festival began well before those four days. The project consisted of three distinct stages: crochet training, culinary training, and the final festival itself—a process that had been six months in the making. Through this experience, our youth volunteers were able to learn about the holistic process of running a business, including initial planning, product development, training, sourcing and procurement, budgeting and cost control, inventory management, marketing and promotion, sales and revenue generation, customer service, and event operations.

然而，对于我们的青年俱乐部来说，美食节的筹备工作早在四天之前就开始了。整个项目分为三个阶段：钩针编织培训、烹饪培训以及最终的美食节——整个过程历时六个月。通过这次经历，我们的青年志愿者们学习到了运营一家企业的完整流程，包括初步规划、产品开发、培训、采购、预算和成本控制、库存管理、市场营销和推广、销售和创收、客户服务以及活动运营。

The festival itself was an exciting four-day adventure. Volunteers helped bring in and organize all of the procured materials, set up the booth, serve customers, sell products throughout the festival, and eventually take down the tent and clean up. Throughout the event, we sold Crochet Products, Onigiri Rice Balls, Fruit Drinks, Jelly Cups, and Snowflake Nougat Bars, all planned and prepared by our youth volunteers. Our most popular items sold were the Onigiri Rice Balls and Fruit Drinks, made fresh, onsite at the event. Participating in a food festival also provided our youth volunteers with an opportunity to experience the responsibilities that come with operating a food business. They learned the importance of maintaining proper food-handling standards while also ensuring a welcoming environment for customers. 

这场为期四天的美食节本身就是一次令人兴奋的冒险。志愿者们帮忙搬运和整理所有采购的物资，搭建摊位，接待顾客，在整个美食节期间销售产品，最后还要拆除帐篷并进行清理。活动期间，我们销售了钩针编织品、饭团、汽水鲜果饮、果冻杯和雪花酥，所有这些都是由我们的青年志愿者策划和准备的。最受欢迎的产品是现场新鲜制作的饭团和果汁饮料。参加美食节也让我们的青年志愿者有机会体验经营食品企业的责任。他们学习了保持正确的食品处理标准以及为顾客营造舒适环境的重要性。

Additionally, although ECSSEN Career School is a charity that regularly participates in fundraising initiatives, this experience was different: it was a true business scenario. Our volunteers had to work hard to compete with other vendors, attract new customers, and encourage people who were unfamiliar with our organization to visit our booth—not simply rely on family and friends for support.

此外，虽然爱心学校是一个经常参与筹款活动的慈善机构，但这次的经历有所不同：这是一次真实的商业体验。我们的义工必须努力工作，才能与其他摊贩竞争，吸引新顾客，并鼓励那些不熟悉我们机构的人光临我们的摊位——而不仅仅依靠家人和朋友的支持。

Over the course of the festival, it became increasingly apparent that our volunteers were able to grow and apply many of the skills they had developed throughout the project. Beyond technical skills such as food preparation and crochet, they gained valuable real-world skills in leadership, teamwork, communication, customer service, and problem-solving. Even over the course of just a few days, the volunteers also grew significantly in confidence. Many were initially shy about approaching customers, but gradually became more comfortable stepping outside the booth, greeting strangers, and turning them into customers by encouraging them to visit and support our products.

在整个美食节期间，志愿者们不断成长，并将他们在项目中培养的许多技能运用到实际工作中，这一点变得越来越明显。除了食品准备和钩针编织等技术技能外，他们还获得了宝贵的领导力、团队合作、沟通、客户服务和问题解决等方面的实践经验。即使仅仅短短几天，志愿者们的自信心也显著提升。许多人起初羞于与顾客交流，但逐渐地，他们开始走出摊位，热情地与陌生人打招呼，并通过鼓励他们参观和支持我们的产品，最终将他们转化为顾客。

The event was also a true testament to the volunteers’ perseverance. They spent long days, often up to 12 hours, on their feet and outdoors while working through changing weather conditions. Despite the challenges, they continued to support one another and remain engaged throughout the festival.

此次活动也充分展现了志愿者们的毅力。他们每天长时间站立工作，有时长达12个小时，而且是在户外，还要应对各种天气状况。尽管面临诸多挑战，他们始终互相支持，并在整个美食节期间保持积极投入。

Another important theme that emerged from the experience was adaptability. Adaptability is an incredibly important career skill, and the festival provided a real-world environment in which our youth volunteers could practice it. The constantly changing crowd traffic meant that we sometimes had to adjust the products we promoted, pricing, volunteer shift assignments, and sales strategies in order to remain competitive. Being able to recognize these changes and respond accordingly was an integral part of the learning experience.

此次活动中涌现出的另一个重要主题是适应能力。适应能力是一项极其重要的职业技能，而此次活动为我们的青年志愿者提供了一个真实的实践环境。不断变化的人流意味着我们有时不得不调整推广的产品、定价、志愿者轮班安排和销售策略，以保持竞争力。能够识别这些变化并做出相应反应是学习体验中不可或缺的一部分。

We were also excited to provide an opportunity for a youth with special needs to participate in the event. This allowed us to further our commitment to creating inclusive and meaningful opportunities for youth to develop skills, contribute to the community, and gain real-world experience.

我们也很高兴能为两位有特殊需要的青年提供参与此次活动的机会。这进一步体现了我们致力于为青年创造包容且有意义的机会的承诺，帮助他们发展技能、为社区做出贡献并获得实践经验。

The event benefited both the IgniteYouth Club and ECSSEN Career School in many ways. Our youth leaders grew closer through working together in a busy, fast-paced environment, while also building relationships and camaraderie with other booth owners and organizations at the festival. We were also honoured to welcome Alberta Associate Minister of Multiculturalism Muhammad Yaseen and ECSSEN Career School President Jilin Wang over the course of the festival.

此次活动在很多方面都使 IgniteYouth Club 和 爱心学校受益匪浅。我们的青年领袖们在繁忙快节奏的环境中并肩工作，彼此更加亲近，同时也与其它摊位运营者和组织建立了联系和友谊。在本次活动期间，我们荣幸地迎来了阿尔伯塔省多元文化事务副部长 Muhammad Yaseen 和爱心学校校长 Jilin Wang 的莅临。

We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to all of our family, friends, and partners who supported us throughout this event, whether by stopping by our booth, purchasing our products, or simply showing their encouragement. We like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to V-Health Clinic for generously donating our event booth and supporting us throughout the festival. Another special thank you goes to Olympic Champion Coach Maggie and her family for taking the time to visit our booth during the festival. Their contributions and encouragement played an important role in making this event such a meaningful and memorable experience.

我们衷心感谢所有家人、朋友和合作伙伴，感谢你们在本次活动中给予的支持，无论是光临我们的摊位、购买我们的产品，还是给予我们鼓励。我们还要特别感谢 V-Health Clinic 慷慨捐赠我们的摊位，并在整个活动期间给予我们支持。此外，还要特别感谢奥运速滑冠军教练Maggie 和她的家人专程光顾我们摊位我们的摊位。

We are also incredibly grateful to Career Development Department Program Director Landi Yang, as well as all of the adult volunteers who supported the event. We are incredibly proud to provide youth with engaging, hands-on opportunities to develop and apply career-related skills in real-world settings, the ultimate purpose of ECSSEN Career School and the IgniteYouth Club!

我们衷心感谢职业发展部项目主任Landi Yang以及所有支持本次活动的成年志愿者。我们非常自豪能够为青少年提供宝贵的实践机会，让他们在真实环境中发展和应用与职业相关的技能，这正是爱心学校职业发展部和IgniteYouth俱乐部的最终目标！

Ultimately, it was incredibly rewarding to be immersed in a festival that celebrated and showcased Asian culture. The experiences shared, people met, food enjoyed, and lessons learned throughout the festival will not be forgotten. From months of preparation and training to four days of hands-on business experience, the Taste of Asia Food Festival provided our volunteers with skills that will stay with them long after the event. The Taste of Asia Food Festival was not only an exciting community event, but also an invaluable learning experience for our IgniteYouth Club volunteers!

最终，能够沉浸在这样一个庆祝和展示亚洲文化的美食节中，我们感到无比充实。美食节期间分享的经历、结识的朋友、品尝的美食以及学到的知识都将永生难忘。从数月的准备和培训到四天的实践商业体验，“亚洲美食节”为我们的志愿者提供了将在活动结束后长期受益的技能。“亚洲美食节”不仅是一场精彩的社区活动，也是我们IgniteYouth俱乐部志愿者的一次宝贵学习经历！

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