People in our Neighborhood
By: Angela Sanford, Kennetcook
Photo By: Nicky Smith, Noel
The second story in this series features the trait of collaboration. With collaboration comes the word team and sometimes the people in your neighbourhood, who share a collective vision, develop into such a team. Together that team displays leadership, perseverance, compassion, and so much more. Together they become a superpower, energizing the community with their spirit, and demonstrating their collaborative nature. One of these teams is better known as the Hants North Recreation Development Association or HNRDA.
Over the past several years, HNRDA has collectively offered a variety of programs and experiences for the immediate Hants North area, though they welcome and encourage everyone to enjoy their facilities, events, and programs. While the team meets regularly, their combined efforts are most frequently employed behind the scenes of the community trails, the summer youth day camps, and various celebratory events to say the least. As a matter of fact, during COVID they stepped up to support local graduation celebrations that would have been lost otherwise. It is through these experiences that their collaborative nature is highlighted – working alongside other community groups and individuals to provide opportunities for all ages, abilities, and interests.
A single visit to Findley Park will show the collaborative spirit of this team and, more than likely, convince you to make a return visit. When the holiday events take place, the entire community WUEH26
benefits from the work of this team, and when it’s time for summer day camps HNRDA provides employment opportunities for community youth while also delivering quality programs for the younger learners. It takes an entire team of volunteers to co-operate to make this possible.
Each member of the team could certainly be identified individually, but it is the collaborative nature of the whole that you will witness when you engage with HNRDA. They share a growth mindset and are actively seeking future opportunities for community engagement. The initial team has expanded since origination and features members between the ages of 25 and 70 currently, from three districts in rural East Hants with a “can do” attitude and positive approach. Of course, like any volunteer organization, they’d love to have a broader scope and certainly welcome others to join them or reach out to them for opportunities to collaborate.