After nearly a decade of combined service to the Army Cadet League of Canada (ACLC) at a local, regional and national level, local member Kara Hughes has yet another accolade to add to what has quickly become a laundry list of achievements.
She found out last week, much to her surprise, that the civilian non-profit had recognized her as the National League Member of the Year.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it to be honest," said Hughes. "It's been an honour to work with some of the amazing people in this town, in the province and across the country.
"I still can't quite get my head wrapped around that of all of them, I was selected. There's thousands of us, so to me this is a huge honour."
Hughes first became involved with the Cadets parents committee in 2013 when her son joined the Cochrane Army Cadet Corps.
In 2017, she helped to organize the local group's participation in the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, where they planned a trip to Europe to visit the site of the iconic battle.
"I just saw what being a part of Cadets did for my son and so I stayed involved and it grew from there," she said.
Hughes' current roles include Southern Alberta zone chair, ACLC national council director, national membership committee member and she serves on the board of governors. She also holds several interim positions for various corps across Alberta and has previously served as the Alberta screening governor and Southern Alberta zone vice-chair, as well as various other roles at the corps level.
Her service awards and accomplishments include the ACLC Col. Lee Thompson Award, which she won in 2014 and 2017 for showing outstanding commitment and dedication to the cadet movement as a parent volunteer, the 2020 Joanne Nilsson Award for League Member of the Year, and now, the 2020 National League Member of the Year — awarded a year late due to COVID-19.
She was also previously nominated for Citizen of the Year at the Cochrane Community Awards.
"I've really enjoyed my time working with the ACLC because you can see that work shine through the cadets," she said. "You can see what they get out of it and that's always been the driving force for me.
"Cadets is really all about responsibility, accountability, leadership and camaraderie. Seeing your child bloom in that — like the first time you come downstairs and they're ironing their own uniform and polishing their own boots, and they're up before you to do it — it's really a moment and it's very rewarding to see some youth thrive in that."
Hughes said that while she expected her son to make friends and find community in the organization, what she did not expect was to make the same connections herself.
"With how the program works, my son has become friends with people across the country and across the world," she said. "I've also personally made lifelong friends through all of this."
Her most recent award was presented to her by ACLC Alberta branch president Jake Dufault, who, she added, she's had the pleasure of working with for several years.
In March, Hughes plans to put her name in to run for Dufault's position.
She said her bid for branch president is largely motivated by all of the change that not just the Cadets organization, but that the world has seen come about with COVID-19.
"I have ideas and plans of how we can kind of re-grow the cadet program as we've seen with any other in-person activities that have taken a hit," said Hughes. "Some of our officers and our cadets have become super creative in how to navigate through this virtual world.
"I have some ideas on how we can regroup and move forward into our new normal, and I'm excited to see if we can implement those and where we can take this program."
