At the start of June, the Link Challenge was launched for Link members to complete over the course of the summer. The challenge’s theme is staycation and asks members to explore their community and connect with each other. Here’s the Challenge:

• Discover: visit a local museum or historic site
• Celebrate: attend a festival
• Learn: attend a class or workshop
• Give back: volunteer for a cause that’s important to you
• Get outside: go hiking or camping

In order to complete the Link Challenge, do at least three of the activities. They can be done by yourself or you can meet up with other Link members and complete them together! Share your photos on social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) and use the hashtags #GGCLink and #GGC.

While the challenge only requires members to complete three of the five components, I have challenged myself to complete all five throughout the summer. To date I have completed two of the challenges and have had a blast doing them.

Give Back:
At the start of June I had the pleasure of volunteering for a second year with Doors Open Halifax, a festival highlighting historic buildings, architecture and culture. The event happens over the course of a weekend allowing people to visit buildings that aren’t usually open to the public. I love volunteering for this event because everyone is always excited to explore buildings they pass by all the time and revisit their favourites.

That is what I love about this event – the opportunity for people of all ages to discover their city and see behind the normally closed doors. This year I was a venue captain and had a chance to support many venues that were new to me, even after living in Halifax all my life. Cities constantly surprise us with the new, the loved and the reimagined; it is this ability to surprise that sparked the idea for this challenge.

Discover:
For this component of the challenge I attended an event at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) called ARTParty. It was a chance for attendees to experience art in a different light through interactive activities including a DIY sunglasses station and a scavenger hunt throughout the gallery. To top it off, the AGNS had a DJ who played music that kept us bouncing wherever we went.

When I first saw the event I was excited because it looked like a fun evening to rediscover a gallery that I loved visiting while growing up in Halifax. I also thought it would be a great opportunity to connect with Link members in Nova Scotia and complete part of the Link Challenge. With that in mind I sent the event information to the Nova Scotia Provincial Link Adviser and I am glad I did!

I had a chance to meet some of the wonderful Link members who I hope to connect with more in the future. We had a great time and, in the end, didn’t want to leave because we were all having such a great time just getting to know each other. I look forward to connecting with these wonderful ladies in the future as I had a blast with them!

How are you participating in the Link Staycation Challenge? Don’t forget to share your pictures using #GGCLink and #GGC. If you haven’t started working on the Challenge yet there is no time like the present to rediscover your community and connect with other Link members!

Have feedback on the challenge or ideas for the next Link Challenge? Send them to me at mbrake(at)mta.ca!

Guest post by Michelle Brake, GGC’s National Link Specialist, New Brunswick Link Adviser, and a Link member. On top of this she is also a Guider with Ranger and Pathfinder units. Michelle is passionate about Link as a membership activity for members 18/19 to 30 years old.