Annual Report 2020
Thank you for being a Friend!
2020 was a year like no other we have ever experienced. Yet despite all of its challenges, as you will see in this annual report, we were still able to achieve some very significant goals.
From the Society's point of view, two important achievements I find noteworthy are an increase in membership along with a successful Fall fundraising campaign. Both of these successes may be interpreted as signs that our Society is on the right track, that people find value in our work and are willing to help support local nature-based programming in a number of different ways.
Our success therefore, is directly attributable to the generous ongoing support of our donors, members and volunteers, all of whom came together at a time when it was needed most, and all of whom deserve a huge and heartfelt "THANK YOU!"
Rick Andrews
President
Our Focus
Advancing nature appreciation in Southern Alberta!
Friends of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre Society supports a community of environmentally responsible citizens with interactive nature-based educational experiences.
Our Society builds appreciation and connection with nature by:
Supporting environmental education programs and special projects;
Enhancing the resources of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre;
Fostering the importance of nature!
Our Society advances education by providing workshops and presentations on the local natural environment to the public.
We are proud to partner with a network of nature and environment focused organizations to offer and support nature-based programming in our community.
We are always seeking grant and partnership opportunities for our programs, projects, and initiatives for nature-based education in Lethbridge.
In many ways our efforts make the Nature Centre better! However, our Society does not offset the capital and operational requirements of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre. We provide enhancements for the benefit of the community that would not otherwise be available.
Since 2014 our Society has delivered 92 programs to the community, benefitting over 10,000 attendees and participants. In that time we helped realize two large capital improvement projects: the River Valley Exhibit (2016) and the Co-op Community Outdoor Classroom (2020). These enhancements provide lasting benefit, enriching the experience for 58,000+ annual visitors to the Helen Schuler Nature Centre.
Notable Accomplishments in 2020
In the past year, our efforts have resulted in significant support of nature-based programs, capital enhancements at the Nature Centre, and awareness of our role in the community.
Left to right: Samantha Tinworth (past-president), Marni Hope (director), Rick Andrews (president), Taylor Hecker (Secretary & HSNC Rep), Rick Parker (director), Curtis Goodman (member) at the Annual General Meeting in March 2020.
In January we kicked off an exciting line-up of Travel Adventures presentations featuring Lyndon Penner, Joanna Fraser, Rick Andrews & Carol Leriger, Chris Fisher, and Derry Armstrong. An increase in donations alongside quickly reserved seating shows strong community support for programs like this. In 2019 each Travel Adventures program raised approximately $500 while each program in 2020 raised over $900! Thank you to all attendees for making this possible!
Samantha Tinworth, past-president, introduces the Friends of HSNC Society at a Travel Adventures in January 2020 at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre.
In January we also partnered with Lethbridge Plays to sponsor the inaugural Play! Summit. This full day event convened educators, researchers, parents, students, and policy-makers to learn from each other about the benefits and importance of play in everyday life.
Our Annual General Meeting was Sunday March 15, the evening before a nation-wide lockdown came into effect.
Rick Andrews and Carol Leriger present at the February 2020 Travel Adventures with proceeds benefitting the Endowment Fund. Thanks to your support we raised an average of $900 at each of the three Travel Adventures programs we hosted in 2020!!
As a result of the mandatory public health measures, we cancelled many of our scheduled events and activities. The Snake Safety presentations at Red Cliff Public Library and Police Point Interpretive Centre in Medicine Hat and the Jane’s Walk in Lethbridge were cancelled. Our support of river valley conservation projects like Coulee Clean-up and Shoreline Clean-up was postponed.
In May we worked with the Helen Schuler Nature Centre to host an online survey of stakeholders which helped inform the facility reopening strategy. The survey identified gaps in services our community was struggling with and how our efforts could help.
Get Outside 101 temporary trail signage was deployed in parks around Lethbridge in July, August, and September - thanks to the support of the Community Foundations of Canada and the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.
In June we secured funding from the Community Foundations of Canada so that the Nature Centre could develop and offer a ‘Get Outside – Nature Play’ program. Weekly content was developed and released online by the Nature Centre so that families had immediate access to resources during this difficult time. The Nature Centre then adapted and repackaged this content into several different formats to allow for easier distribution to local families without internet access.
We donated colouring books and Get Outside 101 activity guides for 500 August Activity Kits made available for pick-up from the Nature Centre!
Using QR codes linked to our website we helped the Nature Centre offer interactive outdoor trail-based and indoor exhibit-based experiences. This allowed the Nature Centre to quickly and easily implement no-touch activities in response to the pandemic.
‘Get Outside – Nature Play’ brochures were distributed to 500 local families in two deliveries of the Mindful Munchies Program organized by the Lethbridge Food Bank and My City Care. This partnership recognized that access to nature and play are as necessary for children’s health as nutrition. These much-needed resources became essential during a time when many recreation facilities and schools were unavailable.
Thanks to a partnership with eight local organizations, ‘Get Outside – Nature Play’ brochures were also distributed to 500 local families in an August Activity Bag. These provided families with ideas and inspiration, helping to remind them that the ‘Fun Stuff Happens Outside!’
The ‘Get Outside – Nature Play’ content was also adapted for temporary trail signage that was deployed in several parks around Lethbridge in July, August, and September with the help of Nature Centre volunteers.
In June the Nature Centre facility resumed indoor exhibit experiences; we helped reduce touch-points within the facility while enhancing visitor experience through QR codes linked to activities on our Society's website. Using a mobile device, visitors could independently interact with sounds and videos from exhibit signs and displays. We leveraged this technology to host similar content for many outdoor trail-based activities available in Lethbridge Parks in the summer.
Chalk advertisements were drawn on sidewalks at popular parks around town to promote the release of Avian Summer with proceeds benefitting the Endowment Fund.
Our programs pivoted to an online format which allowed us to connect with our audience in a safe way. The online film premiere of Avian Summer – the latest documentary film by Rick Andrews, local wildlife photographer AND our Society’s president – had nearly 100 participants take part in the live Q&A and film screening. In partnership with the Nature Centre, we began hosting an online Facebook Live Q&A event with local naturalists. We hosted a Snake Safety presentation in September during the rattlesnake fall migration to raise awareness of how to safely coexist in snake habitat. In December, we co-hosted a Winter Birds presentation in advance of the annual Christmas Bird Count.
By popular demand we hosted in-person film screenings of Avian Summer at Helen Schuler Nature Centre. Due to mandatory public health orders attendees were quite spaced out!
In October our Society participated as a river valley stakeholder in the City of Lethbridge Park’s River Valley Engagement focus group. This provided a chance for advocacy to raise awareness about the current challenges, opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses of how the river valley is managed for different user groups. Our representatives encouraged the need for more environmental education programming, as well as support for conservation of the natural spaces within the heart of our city.
Also in October, by audience demand, we hosted several in-person screenings of Avian Summer at the Nature Centre. This provided an opportunity for small groups to see the film on the big screen. All proceeds from Avian Summer screenings, virtual sales, and rentals went directly to the Endowment Fund!
Left to right: Lee Giddens, Chris Witkowski, Henry Bakker, Coreen Putman, Curtis Goodman. The project team in the original amphitheatre at the Nature Centre - BEFORE
In November we called upon our members to renew memberships and consider a donation given the impact the pandemic had on our charity’s activities and ability to fundraise in 2020. Our membership responded in kind – together you helped us raise $11,300 for the Endowment Fund which will support the Nature Centre into perpetuity. Remarkably, we also increased our paid membership by 22% in 2020 over 2019!
Left to right: Lee Giddens, Craig Richter, Henry Bakker, Coreen Putman. The project team in the new and improved Co-op Community Outdoor Classroom at the Nature Centre - AFTER.
Later in November, our members were encouraged to raise awareness about the impacts that potential budget reductions at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre and the impact this would have on environmental education in our community. Thanks in part to support from people like you, City Council heard that the Nature Centre is an essential part of our river valley and there was no reduction in base funding to the Centre.
Also in November, the Co-op Community Outdoor Classroom at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre was completed. This represents the culmination of two years of effort by our Friends to fundraise $260,000 in support of a new outdoor learning space with some of the most scenic views our river valley has to offer! The new and improved space will inspire many generations of visitors to develop a closer relationship with nature.
Thanks to our Friends for helping us to achieve so much during a strange and challenging year! We look forward to seeing you out on the trails.
Left to right: Coreen Putman, Jessica Deacon-Rogers, and Curtis Goodman on behalf of the team at Helen Schuler Nature Centre says “THANK YOU” for building the Co-op Community Outdoor Classroom - it is an amazing improvement!!!
Summary of Activities & Events in 2020
Friends of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre Society is active year-round - delivering programs, grant-writing and fundraising, engaging in advocacy, and building our capacity.
Travel Adventures Presentations
Spectacular Birds of Australia & New Zealand with Lyndon Penner (20-Jan-20)
Exploring Brazil's Pantanal & Iguazu National Park with Joanna Fraser (31-Jan-20)
A Taste of South America with Carol Leriger & Rick Andrews (28-Feb-20)
Birds in Our World with Chris Fisher (27-Mar-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Kootenay Plains with Derry Armstrong (24-Apr-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Conservation Initiatives
River Valley Conservation Projects, including Coulee Clean-Up, Shoreline Clean-Up, Invasive Weed Pulls (Event Support and Sponsorship) – COVID CANCELLED
Snake Safety Presentations
The 7 Snakes of Alberta (12-Feb-20)
Living with Snakes at Red Cliff Library (31-Mar-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Living with Snakes at Grassland Naturalists (1-Apr-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Jane’s Walk – Living with Snakes in Lethbridge (2-May-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Ask a Naturalist – Living with Snakes - Live Q&A with Ken Moore (9-Sep-20)
Community Events & Workshops
Lethbridge Play! Summit – Sponsorship (21-Jan-20)
'Lethbridge through the Seasons' Colouring Book Distribution as part of Mindful Munchies Food Bank Hamper Program (COVID-19 response) (1-Apr-20)
Jane's Walk: Snakes on the Plains (2-May-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Publication: Get Outside 101 - Nature Play Guide - Ideas for the Outdoors (1-Jun-20)
Publication: Get Outside 101 - Nature Play Guide - More Ideas for the Outdoors (1-Jun-20)
Nature Play Day 2020 (13-Jun-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Avian Summer online film premiere – Live Q&A with Rick Andrews (25-Jun-20)
Get Outside Temporary Signage Program (Aug-Sept, 2020)
Word on the Street – Author Presentation (19-Sep-20) – COVID CANCELLED
Avian Summer film screenings x4 (26-Oct-20 & 27-Oct-20)
Ask a Naturalist – Winter Birds - Live Q&A with Ken Orich (9-Dec-20)
Governance
Executive Meeting (22-Jan-20)
Executive Meeting (11-Mar-20)
Annual General Meeting (15-Mar-20)
Executive Meeting (9-Jul-2020)
Finances
We hosted our first Facebook Live Q&A with Rick Andrews on June 25, 2020 to discuss the release of Avian Summer - with proceeds benefitting the Endowment Fund.
Get Involved!
Get Outside 101 temporary trail signage was set out in Nicolas Sheran Park in Lethbridge - helping to activate urban parks to encourage trail users to add a little play to their day! This project, in its many forms, was made possible thanks to the support of the Community Foundations of Canada and the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.
It takes a community to support and inspire closer relationships between people and the natural world around us. Join us in our mission to connect people to the benefits of the great outdoors!
You can help - take action in the following ways:
Become a Friends Member
Make a donation
Volunteer with us
Attend a program, event, or workshop
Visit the Nature Centre
Share a testimonial about the Nature Centre
Spend more time outside
Encourage your friends and family to join you
Consider joining our Board of Directors
Friends of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre Society
SUPPORT • ENHANCE • FOSTER
c/o 910 4th Avenue South, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 0P6
NatureCentre.ca | HSNCfriend@gmail.com
Canadian Charity # 73189 3491 RR0001