Jean Robinson has been chosen as Queens County’s volunteer of the year for 2025. (Rick Conrad)

Part of Jean Robinson’s job more than 30 years ago was to choose Queens County’s volunteer of the year.

Now, the Brooklyn resident and consultant has received the award herself.

“I was really surprised and honoured to be selected and I’ve been thinking it’s kind of funny because I came here in the late ’80s as the recreation director for the county and part of my job was helping select the representative volunteers, so it’s a bit of full circle.”

The Region of Queens Municipality announced earlier this summer that it had chosen Robinson as its volunteer of the year for her “remarkable and diverse volunteer resume”.

She has a full-time job as president of Horizons Community Development Associates, Inc., but that hasn’t stopped her from giving much of her free time to non-profits and other groups in the community.

Originally from Beersville, N.B., near Moncton, Robinson moved to the area in 1988 and has made her mark with many organizations, whether that’s volunteering at her kids’ schools when they were younger to the Queens County Girls Choir and Queens County Seafest to her current volunteer gig as chair of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival.

She’s also helped shepherd local community theatre productions at the Astor Theatre and with the Winds of Change Dramatic Society as a producer.

She credits her parents with teaching her the importance of volunteering at a young age.

“I just think that arts and culture have a really important foundational role in community and in a healthy community, so this is my way of being part of that and it ties to my bigger value that volunteering is foundational to communities, to community development and having a healthy place to live, work and play.”

She’s been involved with the theatre festival since 2011 and it was that connection that also garnered her the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal in January for services to the arts.

Former Lt.-Gov. Arthur LeBlanc and his wife Patsy are big fans of the festival and he nominated Robinson for the honour.

“And that came as a complete surprise. I opened my email one day back in early January and I thought is this a real email?” she says, laughing.

“It was very special. It was a lovely ceremony. I was able to take two of my three adult children. … It was lovely to see the breadth of volunteers that were being recognized for their work, whether it was in civil society or in government or in Indigenous relations.”

She says volunteering is changing as people’s family lives and priorities shift. Many groups, especially in rural communities like Liverpool, find it challenging to recruit and retain volunteers.

“I think it is still a struggle and I think that the days of folks volunteering for many years with an organization is maybe more of the exception than the rule than it used to be and just the ongoing long-term volunteer is a little more difficult to get now.”

Robinson is bucking that trend by staying with organizations like the theatre festival for the long haul. She says volunteering has helped her form and strengthen long-lasting friendships.

“People volunteer for different reasons and so, understanding that people may want to volunteer for social connections, they may want to do it for building skills which could then even potentially help on a resume.”

She says volunteer-run groups have had to adapt to remove any barriers to bringing new people on board.

“Knowing that there aren’t financial barriers for them to being involved and understanding that as an organization. Thinking about the strengths that volunteering brings to a person in the community but also how can we break down the barriers and support people to be part of the community. How do we open the door and make them feel welcome?”

Robinson will be the Region of Queens delegate to the provincial volunteer awards ceremony on Sept. 29. She’ll be one of 70 from around the province to be honoured with the award.

The Queens volunteer of the year is chosen from nominees for the region’s Ripple Effect volunteer recognition program which allows the public to nominate fellow community members for their volunteer efforts. More information about the Ripple Effect is available here on the Region of Queens website.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

Queens Ground Search and Rescue needs volunteers to continue the service. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

Queens Ground Search and Rescue has an “urgent” need for volunteers.

Brian Hatt, the group’s search manager, said Monday that they can use people in various areas, but the top priority now is for volunteer ground searchers.

“So we want to put our cards on the table and let everyone know that we really need volunteers to keep this thing going,” he said.

“We can’t afford to lose (this group). There’s no replacement. The only alternative to our service would be to bring people from outside, like Halifax, Lunenburg, Barrington. And that’s going to add time to a response which we can’t afford, especially this time of year.”

Queens Ground Search and Rescue has been offering its services in Queens and other counties for more than 50 years. They cover mostly south Queens and help RCMP, other police agencies and the Emergency Management officials with ground searches, evacuations and recovery efforts.

Hatt said they have about 20 volunteers in their search and fundraising teams. He said at one time, they had more than 50 volunteers.

The group provides all the training, everything from ground searching to drone piloting to first aid. Members also receive provincial and federal incentives, such as bonuses and tax benefits, he said. And volunteers are also given a special licence plate to identify them as members.

“But you choose the route you want to take in the team. … And you’re going to be part of a team that’s well received and recognized and really rewarding when you’re on a successful search and you bring someone home to their family.”

He said he’s optimistic there are people in Queens County who want to get involved.

“I think there are some people that have some time out there that would really fit in well and help us keep this valuable service going. And I know the general public really appreciate when we’re working for them to try to find somebody.”

Volunteers must be more than 16 years old and pass a background check with the RCMP. For more information, contact Brian Hatt at 902-350-1413 or by email at brianhatt@eastlink.ca .

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the news update for Jan. 15 below