Thursday, November 21, 2019
VOLUME 2 I ISSUE 21
MERIDIANSOURCE.CA
Giving youth credit where it’s due Young community leader receives provincial recognition for continued efforts TAYLOR WEAVER
EDITOR
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The commonly-used phrase “youth are the leaders of tomorrow” couldn’t ring more true for 15-year-old Jordy Haughian of Lloydminster. Jordy was recently honoured with a Lieutenant Governor’s Community Leader of Tomorrow honourable mention at the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association annual awards ceremony, which was held at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Jordy is the youngest Albertan to receive this honour in its history. The province-wide awards program recognizes the achievement of teams and individuals who demonstrate the very best of active community leadership, engage citizens in planning, use leadership to get people more active, more often, and work to create places, spaces and opportunities for people to be active and engaged in their communities, using recreation as a catalyst. The Community Leaders of Tomorrow award is presented to an Alberta resident 30 years of age or younger who demonstrated the qualities and competencies that
are expected to make them an outstanding future community leader. Nominees for this award have, in a relatively short period of time, had an impact on the community as a result of their exceptional professional and/or personal achievements. Recipients have demonstrated leadership in using recreation and parks as a catalyst in creating healthier and more active communities. In Jordy’s case, his list of personal contributions to Lloydminster and surrounding community continues to grow. At an early age, Jordy was diagnosed with multiple mood and learning disabilties, and at age six or seven, began to have suicidal thoughts. Jordy’s mom, Janice, took it upon herself to homeschool her son, and since then the two have been working together to better the community through projects like the 100+ Women Who Care, which was quickly followed up by the 100 Youth Who Care. It was Jordy’s passion to share his personal mental health story as well as being
Supplied Photo
Jordy Haughian (left), who was recently honoured with a Lieutenant Governor’s Community Leader of Tomorrow honourable mention at the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association annual awards ceremony, was smiles to be joined by his mother, Janice, Heather Down, and Stephanie Brown at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise at the end of October.
the founder of the 100 Youth Who Care Lloydminster that got his name on the radar of Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Lois Mitchell. “The Lieutenant Governor was amazing, and she has a great sense of humour,” said Jordy, adding it was Heather Dow who put his name in the nomination. “Feeling great about all of this feels like an understatement, and just even getting an honourable mention
is amazing ... it’s literally an honour.” Jordy added he doesn’t do what he does for the recognition, he does it for the greater good of the community. “That’s all I have to do and all I want to do,” he said. “I think Jordy has a lot of compassion and care for other people, and I think he’s always been that way, and he’s just trying to show other people he cares about them and that they’re not alone,”
said a proud mom Janice while fighting back tears of joy. “It doesn’t seem unnatural for me to be talking about my struggles in my life because mom and I have been talking about it for years,” added Jordy. “It’s important to share because people then realize there’s people out there that have similar struggles, and maybe they’ll share their story too.”