Saskatoon environmental activist helps newcomers embrace the outdoors

Anna-May Zeviar · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Graeme Hopkins knows what it feels similar to struggle. The Saskatoon 20-year-old says precocious schoolhouse was rough.

"It felt like, astir similar Lego. Like I was being disassembled. And truthful galore parts of my individuality and my quality were being taken distant with each conflict and each nonaccomplishment that I went through," helium said.

"So I wanted to rebuild that. I wanted to say, 'OK this is simply a mess, let's cleanable it up, let's physique it back.'"

For Hopkins, portion of that rebuilding is giving backmost to others successful the community. He's connected a spread twelvemonth close now, with plans to go back to assemblage to survey paleontology successful the fall.

Hopkins said helium has ever been passionate astir the environment, clime change and the outdoors, truthful it made sense to harvester those passions with volunteering.

"I truly judge successful the unthinkable powerfulness of outdoor enactment successful forging connections and making radical consciousness invited and astatine location wherever they live," Hopkins said.

That vigor and enthusiasm is wherefore the Saskatoon Open Door Society (SODS) approached Hopkins a small implicit a twelvemonth agone to get progressive with its younker enactment program.

WATCH: Filmmaker Marzia Kamyabi followed on arsenic Graeme Hopkins took a radical of newcomers sledding arsenic portion of the SODS Newcomer Adventure Club: 

Maryam Wajahat, the facilitator of younker programs for SODS, said she's ever looking for ways to get young radical retired into the assemblage to effort caller things. 

Wajahat said the collaboration is simply a large acceptable due to the fact that Hopkins is simply a young person, meaning helium tin subordinate to different youth, nd understands what they need.

Many newcomers look struggles adapting to a caller metropolis oregon country, Wajahat said, particularly erstwhile they near friends and families behind.

"We person seen a inclination wherever younker are precise alert of the situation and clime change," Wajahat said. "So by having the Outdoor Adventure Club and different programs that we do, it's truly large to code immoderate of those concerns that these kids are experiencing."

The Outdoor Adventure Club is unfastened to kids aged 13 to 18 who are caller to the metropolis oregon country. The nine brings young newcomers and their families connected escaped outdoor excursions successful and astir Saskatoon.

Past trips person included tubing astatine Optimist Hill, kick-sledding astatine Victoria Park, hiking astatine a section quality conservation area and riding a horse-drawn sleigh done Saskatoon's downtown stream valley.

On the time filmmaker Marzia Kamyabi changeable her documentary, the radical headed retired for a fewer hours to a tobogganing hill.

Hopkins, Wajahat and the participants were bundled up successful dense coats, mitts and toques to brave the -20 windchill.

Everyone seemed to beryllium having a large clip arsenic they zipped down the elevation connected colourful sleds.

"I'm not specified a large painter, not specified a large musician," Hopkins said. "But this is 1 country successful which I consciousness that I americium beauteous bully astatine the creation I create. I make experiences."

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