Halifax R.E.C. Van program to bring summer fun to kids, seniors
A Halifax door-to-door recreation program will be travelling around the city this summer to bring sports and activities to kids and seniors, for free.
The city-sponsored R.E.C. Van Program will spend two months driving to parks and beaches around the municipality, offering a variety of games — including baseball, basketball, frisbee golf, giant checkers and more.
Co-ordinator Ben Clarke said the program has been resurrected from a similar pilot project that was scrapped 10 years ago.
"The basis of it is, we want to reach all four corners of the HRM, so we won't be just doing it in the city," he said.
"We're going to be going to places like Sambro, like Sheet Harbour, like Terence Bay, because we want to give kids all throughout the municipality a chance to be physically active."
Clarke said the program can help bring fun activities to families who can't otherwise afford, be it with time or money, to give their kids access to these summer games.
"We'll be going to them, instead of them coming to us," he said.
Kids won't be the only ones in on the fun. Clarke said for four or five days a month, the program's activities will extend to seniors.
"You just don't have to be a kid to be physically active," he said. "So, we're going to go to some seniors' homes and we're going to be doing some passive-active activities that they can do, to kind of get them up and moving."
The program, which costs the city $25,000, is already booked solid through July and August.
"They're not always going to have parachutes or potato sack bags that they can try, just in their backyard," said Marlo Barnes, a leisure specialist at the Captain William Spry Centre.
"It's an awesome opportunity and it's great to see them interacting and none of them really know each other. And it really brings the community together."
If you'd like to know when or where the R.E.C. Van might be on a given day in the month, the city has posted a calendar online.
The program runs until the end of August.
