“I’m a full believer in being a doer.”
That’s the philosophy Sandi Lee, a REALTOR® and salesperson with Century 21 Trident Realty Ltd., lives by every day in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. For her, helping others isn’t an occasional project—it’s a way of life. And nowhere is that drive to help others more visible than through her tireless efforts to support families when disaster strikes.
<iframe width="100%" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zS4DisL2J2g?si=adWTW-HYH7TwRq52" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>Since 2009, Sandi’s instinct to act has guided her volunteer service with the Canadian Red Cross. Drawn to the Emergency Management team, she found a space where her compassion and calm under pressure could make a difference.
“Just knowing that they’re [evacuees] okay when we arrive, when they’re being displaced, makes me feel good that I could be there,” explained Lee.
As a Team Lead volunteer for Central Nova Scotia, Sandi oversees a dedicated group of 22 Emergency Management volunteers who run emergency preparedness workshops and respond when disaster strikes. Her team provides essential support, including shelter, food, clothing and reassurance to families forced from their homes due to house fires, localized floods, and storms. During large-scale crises, Lee provides on-hand supervision and leadership at Red Cross emergency shelters, ensuring evacuees have a safe place to sleep and volunteers have the direction and support they need.
“There’s absolutely no way the Red Cross could operate in the way that it does without our volunteers,” said Ryan Rupp, Senior Emergency Management Coordinator for Central Nova Scotia.
In 2023, Nova Scotia faced multiple natural disasters displacing thousands and causing millions in damage. During the largest wildfires in the province’s history, which forced more than 16,000 residents to evacuate, Sandi volunteered overnight as a Shelter Supervisor comforting anxious evacuees, and ensuring the team had the shelter prepared for each new wave of residents as the fires grew.
Weeks later, when 250 mm of rainfall in less than 24 hours caused a flash flooding across the province, Sandi navigated partially washed-out roads in a truck filled with supplies and was allowed through police blockades to deliver supplies and help set up a shelter in Bridgewater, one of the areas hit hard by the floods.
“Just seeing the floods and how dangerous the roads were, we were the only car out on the highway,” remembered Sandi. “But we arrived and we had the facility set up.”
Alongside her work with the Red Cross, Sandi has volunteered for more than a decade with the Riverlake and District Joint Emergency Management (JEM) Team, supporting seven Halifax Regional Municipality neighbourhoods. JEM teams help emergency services plan for the unthinkable—wildfires, storms, power outages— by sharing local expert knowledge and documenting neighbourhood plans for potential evacuation rally points, seasonal road conditions, and emergency centre locations.
“You need to have information at your fingertips when you need it,” shared Alastair Cox, Co-Chair of the Riverlake and District team. “People will never know where that information came from, but it’s people like Sandi that gathered it and did the documentation.”
When emergencies occur, JEM teams support radio communications and operate the daytime Comfort Centres that provide humanitarian support, giving neighbours a safe place to go and receive warmth, food, and electricity.
Sandi’s drive to give back comes from a deep belief in shared responsibility. “When you do something kind, it actually spreads,” she said. “It’s like an infectious kindness that will spread if everyone would just do a little part.”
Whether she’s supporting emergency response in the wake of natural disasters, or leading on the Board of Directors at her local real estate association, this Canadian REALTORS Care® Award nominee knows that volunteering isn’t about recognition—it’s about connection. She believes that small acts of care ripple outward, creating stronger, more compassionate communities.
REALTORS Care® Spotlight shares stories of how featured nominees of the Canadian REALTORS Care® Award are working to make their communities a better place for all.
