Featuring Mason Nurse and Riley Penner
Organizations have the power to enable life-changing mentoring relationships to ignite the power and potential of young people, and Big Brothers Big Sisters is doing just that. Riley Penner and Mason Nurse share their experience with the program.
Connecting youth and seniors through friendship
A new friend, a new connection, and the comfort of a shared laugh is much more important than we often realize, and we are never too young, or too old, to appreciate this. Linking Generations is driving this idea forward, making a positive impact of the health and well-being for both seniors and youth.
Sofia Rathjen is a community champion by no stretch of the imagination. At 13 years old, Sofia is an advocate for inclusion and representation in books. As a successful Community Change Grant applicant in 2019, she was able to use the grant funds for over 130 school library books to represent diverse stories and lives. The following is an excerpt from her English “class passion project” essay, titled “Technicolour Bookshelves”.
In a year of isolation, upheaval and fear, volunteers are the superheroes coming to save the day. And while they may not have a proton pack or wear spandex, they will show up on your doorstep with a friendly smile and groceries in hand. As part of National Volunteer Week, the Social Action team connected with Volunteer Strathcona to learn more about the important role community volunteers have played during the pandemic.
Sometimes you just have to dance it out, and no one knows that better than Isaac Shabbits, the 13 year old leader behind the Boys Dance Too initiative. Read how Isaac is challenging stereotypes to encourage and support boys in dance.
Read how next generation leaders are looking to make a change in their community and are playing a role in developing a Youth Strategy for Strathcona County.
These challenging times make it even more important that we take care of ourselves and that as a community, we are there for each other. Now is the time to check in on our loved ones, our neighbours, and co-workers and to offer a bit of additional kindness to our community.
I’m a member of the St. Thomas Anglican Parish—that’s my community. We’ve been here 60 years, we just celebrated the anniversary as a parish.
In my opinion, one of the great things about Sherwood Park is the ecumenical relationships. That means churches get together to do educational events and community outreach events.