Glen Hicks (left) presented Mayor Don Darling (right) with $30,000 to be used to promote active living in seniors. (Submitted)
The group behind the Canada 55+ Games held in Saint John and Quispamsis last year is giving back to the city.
Glen Hicks presented Common Council with a “legacy fund” cheque for $30,000 during a council meeting earlier this month.
Hicks says they came in under budget by around $100,000 last summer and wanted to give back to their community partners and sponsors.
“What we committed to our sponsors and to others was that we would not just have these games, but we also wanted to leave a legacy, and a legacy of improving active living in seniors,” he said.
“There’s different facilities that could probably use some improvements. Just things that make the area for comfortable and more accessible for our seniors is really where we’d like to see the money go to.”
Hicks says the Seaside Lawn Bowling Club could potentially benefit from the funds.
He would also like to see things like wheelchair ramps and larger signage added to the city’s sports facilities.
Hicks says they’ve distributed the funds to a number of different groups: $50,000 went to the Community Fund, $15,000 to the NB 55+ Games, $30,000 to Saint John, and $7,000 to the Town of Quispamsis, which hosted a number of events during the games.
The Canada 55+ games had only been held in New Brunswick once before.
Hicks says having them in Saint John had a big impact on the city’s tourism and hospitality sectors.
“We had over 2,500 people here from across Canada. We got to show off our hospitality here, so a lot of great feedback from all businesses and residents here of having the people in the city for the week and the energy and the camaraderie,” he said.
