Fort Erie Navy cadets recruit at open house

Jennifer Jones started out as a parent watching from the sidelines at Fort Erie’s Navy League cadet corps, but the changes she saw in her daughter persuaded her to join the volunteer staff.

Fort Erie Navy League Cadet Corps No. 179 recruited children aged nine to 12 at an open house at Black Creek Community Centre in Stevensville on September 18.

Cadets meet Friday evenings to train in seamanship and first aid, and families pay nothing to enrol their children.

Jones, now a civilian instructor with the corps, spent the open house enrolling new cadets. She told Fort Erie Radio her daughter joined about three years ago, and she has watched other cadets grow more confident since then.

“I’ve seen kids come out of their shell…kids who don’t really talk turn around and go and do presentations,” she said.

The corps accepts every child aged nine to 12, including children who have been through the foster system and children who struggle at home or at school.

Jones said some cadets were taken from their homes through the child-welfare system, and the corps remained a place they could still go.

“Our group is more like a family to these kids than anything else,” she said.

The corps is planning swimming and canoeing trips for its cadets this year, along with activities aboard the Empire Sandy tall ship. At a weekend program in October, senior cadets will receive leadership training and then help guide the younger cadets.

The corps wants to do more work in the community, but it needs more adult volunteers to do it. The Navy League of Canada trains each volunteer before that person works with cadets.

“Our entire program is volunteer-based, so without volunteers, we can’t do as much,” Jones said.

Cadets keep enrolment free by raising money with donation boxes on Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day weekends.

People interested in volunteering can contact the corps at navyleagueforterie.com.

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