Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Brenda Hattie is a Veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. She is nominated for her extremely dedicated service of over 20 years with The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 61, Yarmouth.
Following retirement from the Forces, she move to the Yarmouth area and immediately became involved with the Legion. Those who work with her at the Legion say that she “does everything in her power to assist any Veterans who require assistance.”
As a trained cook, she has been holding a free Christmas dinner for the past 23 years. She spends days in the kitchen preparing. This year (Christmas 2019), she served 391 meals to community members. The Legion is part of the 100 Meals program. On New Year’s Day, she prepared another 100 meals for community residents.
Over Christmas holidays, she organizes the Veterans Christmas Party for residents of “Veteran’s Place” in Yarmouth and delivers fruit baskets to Veterans living at home.
For the past four years, she has been President of Branch 61. As a number of Legions in rural Nova Scotia have closed, Veterans from a wide region are seeking her help with claims and assistance, and she addresses every request, answering from home and travelling to assist clients when needed.
She also organizes burial services for Veterans and will assist family members with grief counselling.