Katelyn Anderson wants to improve the lives of the kids who come after her. Her goal, through the numerous organizations she volunteers with, is to improve life in the city and make things better for each generation that comes after her. Her efforts have been recognized by the City of Yorkton, and she received the Civic Recognition Award in the Youth category.
While incredibly busy through her volunteer work, Anderson was excited to find out that she received it.
鈥淚t was a shock, and then I was really, really happy because I didn鈥檛 expect it.鈥�
Anderson is involved in many different groups and organizations, and as a result is very busy balancing her community involvement, work and school. She鈥檚 a long-time member of Cadets, both in the Army Cadets and Navy League Cadets, where she received the Captain P. Jacques Award in 2018 for exemplifying good citizenship, and the Royal Canadian Legion Medal of Excellence in 2019 for community involvement both within the Cadets and outside of it.
鈥淲hen I was 9-years-old, I just saw one of the sign-ups at City Wide registration and thought I wanted to do that, and stuck with it for nearly nine years now.鈥�
She is also part of the LGBTQ+ community in Yorkton, and has been heavily involved there as well, founding 鈥淧ride for Days鈥� which brings LGBTQ+ youth together for monthly activities and allows them to gather in a safe space. That organization is on hiatus at the moment due to COVID-19.
鈥淵orkton is definitely a very progressive city, but there are definitely times and places where it鈥檚 hard to be part of that community, especially in the high schools. It鈥檚 great to be recognized for that, and to be able to take a stand and help out those teenagers and even adults who are part [of the community] and feel a little bit more vulnerable.鈥�
She is also involved in Boys and Girls Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Yorkton and Area. Anderson believes that it鈥檚 especially important right now to be a mentor to kids who need it.
鈥淓specially now, with all of the stress people are going under, a lot of them don鈥檛 know what to do, so giving them outlets and stuff like that, I feel, really helps. I got a lot of that when I was younger, so I feel it鈥檚 important to pass it on.鈥�
She hopes to see that other youth follow her example and start making a difference in the areas of the community where they are passionate.
Anderson is proud to receive the award, and said it鈥檚 important to have recognition for youth who 鈥渨ant to be the change they want to see in the world.鈥�
