Jean Carr has always been “close to nature.” As a child growing up in New Glasgow, she says, “We used to lie on our backs and watch the clouds and paint pictures in the sky. I still watch the sky, every day.” She calls nature “just part of what I breathe.”

In 1962 her parents bought a cottage on the Amherst shore, and from then on, “from the day school was out until the day school started in the fall,” Jean and her family enjoyed the beach. To this day her family spends the summer on the Amherst shore; though her three children and their families are spread far across Canada and the U.S., her son David has taken up care for the very same family cottage, while her two daughters have bought their own cottages nearby, and they reunite most summers on the shore.

Though she doesn’t play on the sandbars in precisely the same way she did years ago, her love of that beach hasn’t changed. “I have a special rock I sit on, and my favourite thing is to watch the tide come in or go out with every lap of the waves,” she says. “My heart is full of nature.”

Jean emphasizes that “If you’re a nature-lover from the start, you care about conservation.” She began donating to the Nature Trust in 2006; when staff member Barbara Haley followed up to thank her for her donation, they made a strong connection and became friends.

In 2008 she became a committed monthly donor. “Becoming a monthly donor was my idea,” says Jean. “I did monthly donations for all of my favourite charities. I wanted to do it monthly so you could know what’s coming and budget for it.” She also contributed to periodic Nature Trust campaigns to protect specific properties.

This week, Jean celebrated her 96th birthday – an incredible milestone! “I had a wonderful day,” she says. “It started with going to church on Sunday and to lunch afterward, and then on Monday a friend had half a dozen people in for a luncheon, with a beautiful birthday cake. It was just like Christmas for me!”

Although she’s decided that it’s time to take a step back from her monthly contribution, her love of nature carries on without interruption. “I’m fascinated by wetlands. I hate to see them neglected because they hold so much,” says Jean, adding that their significance for birds and nesting is particularly important to her. “So much nature is protected now. I’m always happy to read about new wetlands and new lands that are protected. Keep them that way – pristine.”

“I’m happy to contribute, that’s the main thing,” she adds. “It’s an excellent way to contribute to nature, and to keep the care of nature going.”

We are so grateful to Jean for her decades of support for the Nature Trust, and for her enduring love of nature. If you’re inspired to consider making a monthly gift, learn more about our community of NatureMakers – and what they make possible.