Nominated by Annabelle Grant  

It has been an honour to volunteer for Pathstone. During the pandemic they were able to ensure our safety and continued engagement in the community. I have the honour of volunteering for their drive thru movie event where people were given packages at different locations ending at a drive-in movie. Though it was a rainy day they kept us happy and warm with food and warm drinks. They also provided us custom masks so we could still represent them and feel safe. They ensured our safety and the participants safety were a top priority. Pathstone has foundational programs that really engage people of all ages. Their focus is on youth and I’ve had a lot of peers whose lives have been touched by Pathstone in one way or another. They engage youth in volunteer opportunities, provide vital services to youth and make a lot of services much more accessible. Though I have not worked with them for as long as other people – I have only seen and heard good things from Pathstone. They clearly really care about the Niagara Community.  

Nominated by Krithika Chandrasekaran Iyer 

Volunteering with Learning Disabilities Association of the Niagara Region has taught me resilience, patience and tolerance. I reckon that they are the key tenets of success in any field. I usually am very flexible and blend in almost perfect but in here I had to bend thrice the amount I used to previously as the students that go here are very tender and sensitive in some way and I had to be very cautious of my actions which I am and enjoy doing and learning every second I am with them.  The community makes sure their volunteers and facilitators are given top-notch comfort. They also continually provide us with tutoring or any helpful resources that might help in our tutoring sessions. By sending out check-in emails bi-weekly they really maintain the mental health of tutors who are Brock students and the facilitators are just too sweet and check-in even more often that the course coordinators. They also cheer us up with gift cards and fun fundraisers which is very sweet of them! I really love every meeting with Emily Glencross in general and with COVID-19 I think she is very deserving of the award and is a great representative of LDANR in general. 

Nominated by Anna Mae Vaccaro  
 
Ariel volunteers as a Community Based Virtual Mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Niagara Falls. She meets virtually each week with a young girl to share a few hours talking, making crafts, doing yoga and sharing time together. Ariel has had a positive impact on her mentee in giving her something to look forward to each week. They have formed a healthy friendship and the relationship has had positive outcomes for the child and she is happier and more confident. 

Nominated by Mary Garratt, Volunteer Administrator TD Niagara Jazz Festival  

Jill first became involved with the festival in 2018 and she became involved with Marketing and Media in 2020.  From the first time we met she was eager to jump right in and do whatever was needed at the festival. She is always improving our website, bringing new ideas to the table and no job is too big for Jill to tackle. We have held virtual events which need lots of media attention and Jill has been instrumental in keeping our website current, pertinent and exciting!  She really has a flare for festivals and keeping our customer base apprised of our events with her marketing skills. 

Nominated by Mary Garratt, Volunteer Administrator, TD Niagara Jazz Festival

For this year’s festival, Yugbodh is involved in coordinating with vendors and supervising all the events for the festival. There is a lot of organizing and he was instrumental in procuring vendors, setting up contracts, sourcing materials and attending team meetings. He is a very friendly and approachable young man. He assisted the vendors and volunteers with any and all requests with a smile and never refused a task outside of his realm of responsibility. Setting up and tearing down the park with the logistics team was over and above – always smiling and a good word for everyone. Our community and festival were blessed when YB volunteered for us!

Nominated by JoAnne Caldwell – Community Living St. Catharines 

Jamie is the President of Best Buddies Brock University Club and volunteers at Community Living St. Catharines with the after–hours program, classes and events. Jaime is a very conscientious and dedicated young woman.  She lead our executive team in providing a great program this year, even though it is virtual only.  Jaime goes above and beyond in supporting through social media many of the people in our club with intellectual disabilities during this time of isolation.  Her friendship and support has helped many to cope during these very difficult times.  Jaime is a wonderful young woman who is truly very deserving.    

Nominated by Christine Hurtubise, Alzheimer Society Niagara

Emily’s relationship with the ASNR began in 2015 as a summer program student. Emily worked in the Early-Stage Programs and was integral in the planning, development and implementation of the programs for persons living with a diagnosis of early stage dementia. We continue to use the report template that Emily created for the program. Currently Emily’s role is the Client Advisory Group support person. Emily always demonstrates leadership, respect, integrity, kindness and recognizes the importance of the team. Emily embraces the values of the Early-Stage Programs including hope, dignity, respect, preservation of autonomy, building capacity and resilience. She has a wonderful ability to use clear, concise language to explain important information to our clients. Emily is kind and caring with all of our clients. Emily also volunteers in other programs when she has time available and supports clients and care partners as she does as a support person in the Advisory Group. Many of our clients feel very comfortable to talk with Emily about challenges they may be experiencing, and trust that she respects them and values them as persons first foremost. Emily does not see dementia first; Emily sees a person entitled to respect and dignity. Emily takes every opportunity to provide awareness and education to those in the community. Emily has inspired a team at Brock University to have a team for the Walk for Alzheimer’s and supports our programs/services. Emily has also been a source of information for many of our other volunteers and is always available to connect with other student volunteers who need guidance. We are very grateful to have Emily on our Volunteer Team.

Nominated by Linda Enns, Days for Girls

Brielle has done outstanding work in her various roles with Days for Girls International: First and foremost, she is the leader of the Days for Girls (DfG) Brock Initiative, which she founded in 2018. Brielle plans and risk manages events, coordinates material, and recruits volunteers. Introducing the Days for Girls Volunteer Program has provided student volunteers with a meaningful experience of giving back and serving the global community. Brielle has led the production of over 100 Days for Girls kits to send to Ecuador and Mexico. Also, she has become involved in many advocacy engagements such as the Days for Girls Canadian Advocacy Advisor Panel and the Days for Girls International Advocacy Advisor Panel. Brielle has brought youth perspectives to two recent developments in Days for Girls: The Days for Girls Canadian Advocacy Advisor Panel and the Days for Girls International Advocacy Advisor Panel. Both of these groups require dedication, and they create substantial impact on promoting menstrual health in the community. Brielle was already making valuable contributions to Days for Girls, but then she has collaborated with volunteers and staff by joining the national and international advocacy efforts. These are new initiatives within our organization, and it involves a great deal of commitment and flexibility to collaborate with other volunteers across the country and across the world.