Recently, the Juniper Community Centre in Juniper, NB held a community open house to celebrate new upgrades to the building. The building, which had been the old elementary school in Juniper, has recently been renovated to include two new ground floor bathrooms, one of which is wheelchair accessible, and five heat pumps throughout the building.

"The opening of the Juniper Community Centre is the product of a lot of hard work and dedication of many volunteers in the community.  We are pleased to support the centre and look forward to seeing it thrive as a cornerstone in town," said Jason Killam, Chief Forester at JDI.

Jason Killam was in Juniper for the open house and presented board members with a cheque for $6,000. Many other local staff were present at the open house, showing support for the community where they live and work. The donation from JDI will go toward ensuring the building and the fitness centre stay open during the winter.

“The Juniper Tree Nursery and Juniper Organics have been good friends to our community centre, donating plants, mulch for our shrub garden, labour to plant it and machinery and an operator to prepare the ground,” said Barbara Somerville, Juniper Community Centre board member.

Juniper, population under 500,  is a very important community for J.D. Irving, Limited, as it is where the Juniper Tree Nursery is located. This summer JDI will plant their one billionth tree, many of which came out of the Juniper Tree Nursery, and a milestone that could not have been achieved without the local workforce in Juniper. Juniper Organics Limited, a member of the J.D. Irving, Limited group of companies, is also based out of the town of Juniper.

Jason Killam presenting the cheque to board members. Left to right: Barb Myles, Raymond Rousselle, Jessica Comeau, Steve Fyffe, Marcianne Brown, Millie Brooks, Lawrence Sweet, Rosanne Mazerolle, Jason Killam, Barb Somerville.

The community centre has employed summer students for the past three years. They run children’s programs and this year offer free tutoring services. In addition to the fitness centre, the community centre has a lunch room, called the Juniper Communitea Room which operates for specific meals Thursday-Saturday and has in-house and on-location catering services, a second-hand store, and a history room.