Senior Transportation Program – Runs until March 31st
One group of people that have faced considerable challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic are seniors. Wherever possible, we try to lighten the financial burden and make transportation more affordable to our elders.
With support from the Hants County Senior Safety Association, we are now offering subsidized transportation to those ages 55 or older within our service area. This funding is available on a first come, first served basis until the fund is fully expended.
The rates for the subsidy are as follows:
Regions
Cost per person
Corridor Area (Milford to Enfield)
$2
Nearby Communities
(Nine Mile River, Dutch Settlement,
Shubenacadie, Oakfield)
$5
All Other Parts of Service Area
(Hants North, Mount Uniacke, Lakelands, Indian Brook, Wellington,
Fall River, Waverley
$10
Rides between regions will be charged up to $10 at the discretion of the dispatcher.
A big thank you to Hants County Senior Safety Association for funding this program. Through their generous support, we are able to reduce the cost of transportation and make our community more accessible for local seniors.
This past Saturday, we held our first ever Family Literacy Day Scavenger Hunt Adventure. We wanted to give groups the chance to experience their community in a new way, together as a family or bubble of friends. We hope that everyone enjoyed themselves and learned a bit about their community.
However, we hope the fun won’t stop with this adventure. While a scavenger hunt on this scale requires some planning, individual challenges can be incorporated into any outing. Whether collecting different types of leaves on a hike, counting cars on the road, or reading a story while visiting a park or historic location, there are plenty of ways to work activities into daily life.
This winter, even more than other winters, it’s important to get out and do things differently. If there is anything we did during this event, or an activity you are interested in learning more about, please let us know. We could hold a community class for small groups or larger, online classes if there is demand for it.
Our next FREE community meal is Turkey Soup at the Elmsdale Legion. This will be happening on Wednesday, February 10th from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. These meals are open to everyone and are there to reduce barriers to fresh and healthy food in our community. If you or someone you know could use a pick-me-up, mark it down on your calendar.
Take out or delivery options are available. Take out is first come, first served, drive-thru style in front of the legion. Delivery is booked at least one day in advance through the East Hants & Area Community Rider: call 902-883-4716 to book your delivery. We recommend you use the drive-thru if you can – this allows us to get lunch to those that need it most more quickly.
Our next meal after this one is set for Wednesday, February 24th. We create our meals from food we receive from FoodRescue.ca, so we can’t plan too far in advance as to what we are serving. However, we will let you know as soon as possible through the Elmsdale Community Garden Facebook page.
Thank you for supporting these lunches – extra support means the world to us and more meals for our community. We hope you will enjoy and spread the word to friends and family.
To find out more about the Elmsdale Community Garden and our programs, check out our website.
Medical Transportation Program
Transportation can be just as expensive as treatment in our medical system. We at the Community Rider try to keep costs as affordable as possible, but even then, it can be difficult to cover the costs, especially with monthly or weekly treatments.
Thanks to a generous donation, we are now able to subsidize or cover the costs of transportation for medical services for those that identify a financial need. This subsidy will be available until the donation has been used up.
To help extend the life of the subsidy, we encourage passengers to apply for other programs that subsidize travel, as well as pay a small amount per trip if possible. Every dollar counts to help those in need to be able to access the medical services they need.
If you know someone that struggles to find transportation to medical appointments, please get in touch:
e-mail: dispatch@communityrider.com
phone: 902-883-4716
Free Swims at the
East Hants Aquatic Centre
Between the pandemic and the changes in our daily lives, have you fit in a visit to the new pool, the East Hants Aquatic Centre? If you haven’t, there are three free swims coming up in February. Here are the dates and times:
Tuesday, February 2nd, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 14th, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Monday, February 15th from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Sign ups open one week in advance for each swim. Make sure to book early to get your spot. You can book using the Municipality of East Hant’s website here.
For more information, please contact the Municipality:
e-mail: recreation@easthants.ca
phone: 902-758-3467
A Bit of Trivia
Last month’s question:
What was the name of the first person to receive
the COVID-19 vaccine in Nova Scotia?
On Dec.16, 2020, Danielle Sheaves, a registered nurse at the Halifax Infirmary, was the first person in Nova Scotia to receive the vaccine.
While there have been some slow downs in the distribution of the vaccine, Nova Scotia has still vaccinated 14,589 people, with 2,714 having received the second dose. You can track the progress on the province’s COVID-19 Dashboard. Every person on that list brings us a step closer to ending the pandemic and that much needed return to normalcy.
Thank you to all our healthcare workers that have been on the frontlines of this pandemic for the last 10 months.
This month’s question:
What is the middle name of the new President of the United States?
Check out the newsletter next month for the answer.
