They meet every Thursday night at the Good Neighbor Coffee House, mostly to play board games.

They're the Young Adults of Lacombe (YALA), an informal group looking for more young adults seeking friendship. Last month they were awarded $800 from the City of Lacombe’s recreation and culture grant to expand their repertoire of activities.

Lyndall Cave, a 25 year old resident who works for a local advertising firm, started the group in February when she realized most of the friends she grew up with had moved away.

“I had a few of my friends over for a movie and then I looked at the room and realized that these were all the friends I knew in Lacombe, all of the young adults,” Cave says.

“We thought that was kind of sad, we didn’t know how to connect with other young adults because we’re not into sports or the bar scene and we don’t have kids. So we decided we needed to have a young adults group.”

That moment helped Cave recognize just how hard it can be to meet people. The question for her has been where can those around the ages of 18-35 be found.

“It’s very difficult to meet people in my peer group because most people my age are in college or university in a different city,” she says.

“It’s not that people are unfriendly or don’t want to hang out, it’s just a matter of where do I find them. We’re hoping this helps.”

YALA started with four members and has grown to nine. Cave has learned that activities make it easier for strangers to get to know each other by establishing a common objective, rather than leaving them to grasp for commonalities.

Also, that making new friends takes effort, that somebody has to make the first move.

“First contact is often awkward but it’s worth it to reach out,” she says.

If you'd like to meet some other young adults, Cave's group meets every Thursday at 6:30 at the Good Neighbour Coffeehouse in Lacombe to play board games.