North Bay Heritage Gardeners

New Community Outreach Intern

By the Executive Team

The 2018 gardening season is upon us, and with it comes a new addition to our Heritage Gardeners team! Since early 2017, Jade Scognamillo has been acting as our Volunteer Coordinator/Director, overseeing the volunteer program with which comes a lot of responsibility.

Jade has been a wonderful member of our team, really transforming us into what we are today. In April we narrowed down our search to find the most eligible candidate to join us. After a careful selection process, we are happy to announce that Isaiah Mawhinney will be joining us in a new position as our Community Outreach Intern. Jade has been exceedingly beneficial to us in her role but can now focus her talents on providing a better service to our volunteers. Isaiah will work alongside Jade in both our offices and on The Waterfront to ensure our volunteers’ expectations are met and continue the search for new recruits.

This year we received funding from NOHFC (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation) to hire an intern in order to gain experience in his field, and our new team member will call NBHG his new home for the next 52 weeks. The Community Outreach Intern will be responsible for an array of duties that will help promote our volunteer program and document our progress at The Waterfront as we plunge into the summer. Social media will play a role in this new position, which allows us to enhance our community awareness. We always encourage everyone to submit photos of their waterfront gardens to our social media. If you see Isaiah out and about, be sure to say hi!

Isaiah was born and raised in a small town located 40 minutes outside of Stratford, Ontario. He moved to Belleville at the age of 18 and earned an advanced diploma after studying journalism for three years. Journalism school trained Isaiah in the art of social media, and today’s internet navigation. During his three-year stint as a part-time journalist, he was fortunate enough to interview Steven Page from the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies and Rod MacIvor (known for photographing the Trudeau family). These opportunities allowed him to gain momentum as a young writer that he was later recognized by the faculty of Loyalist’s media department with the “Best Newscast Award.” The program trained him to be fluent in all three media platforms: radio, print and broadcast, although Isaiah ventured into it as a way of discovering a new style of writing. With his advanced diploma, he was added to the Dean’s List for maintaining a high GPA consistently throughout his three years there. Before enrolling in post-secondary, he built his resume by working for the North Perth Chamber of Commerce, where he found his passion for helping small businesses thrive in rural communities. After college, he worked part-time as a freelancer for Metroland Media and provided content for several small newspapers before eventually finding his way to NBHG.

Now as the season to thrive approaches, Jade, Isaiah and our Horticultural Coordinator, Carol, will work together to cultivate a volunteer program that works seamlessly along The Waterfront.

As we’re nearing the end of May, we are anticipating the start date for our yearly summer students who will be joining us for eight weeks to assist the gardeners outdoors. Our Executive Team has been overseeing the hiring process throughout this season and works to make certain we’re adding qualified and dignified team members to our brand. Isaiah is excited to become part of the family at the Heritage Gardeners and will work to exceed in this horticultural stewardship.